< Hosea 12 >

1 Efraim de mframa ayɛ aduan; odi apuei mframa akyi daa na odi atoro yɛ akakabensɛm bebree. Ɔne Asiria yɛ apam na ɔde ngo kɔ Misraim.
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and pursueth the east wind; the whole day he increaseth deceit and corruption; and a covenant do they make with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2 Awurade wɔ sobo de bɔ Yuda; ɔbɛtwe Yakob aso wɔ nʼakwan ho na watua no ne nneyɛe so ka.
But with Judah also hath the Lord [to hold] a controversy; and to punish Jacob according to his ways, according to his doings will he recompense him.
3 Ɔyafunu mu na osoo ne nua nantin; onyinii no, ɔne Onyankopɔn peperee so.
In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his strength he strove with an angel.
4 Ɔne ɔbɔfo tentam dii ne so nkonim; ɔde nusu srɛɛ ne nkyɛn adom. Ohuu no wɔ Bet-El ne no kasaa wɔ hɔ.
Yea, he strove with an angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: in Beth-el he should find him, and there he will speak with us.
5 Asafo Awurade Nyankopɔn, Awurade ne ne din a ahyeta!
And the Lord God of hosts, the Eternal One is his memorial.
6 Ɛsɛ sɛ wosan kɔ wo Nyankopɔn nkyɛn. Tena ɔdɔ ne trenee mu, na twɛn wo Nyankopɔn daa.
Therefore do thou return to thy God: keep goodness and justice, and wait on thy God continually.
7 Oguadini de asisi nsania yɛ nʼadwuma; nʼani gye asisi ho.
But like a merchant, who hath the balances of deceit in his hand, loving to overreach,
8 Efraim hoahoa ne ho sɛ, “Meyɛ ɔdefo; manya me ho. Mʼahonya nyinaa mu wɔrenhu amumɔyɛ biara wɔ me ho.”
Did Ephraim say, I am certainly become rich, I have acquired substance unto myself: it is all through my labors; they will find no iniquity in me, that could be sin.
9 “Mene Awurade wo Nyankopɔn, a miyii wo fii Misraim. Mɛma woakɔtena ntamadan mu bio sɛnea na woyɛ wɔ wʼaponto afahyɛ nna mu no.
And I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt: I will yet make thee dwell in tents, as in the days of antiquity.
10 Mekasa kyerɛɛ adiyifo, memaa wɔn anisoadehu bebree na mefaa wɔn so kaa mmebusɛm.”
And I have spoken through the prophets, and I myself have multiplied visions, and by the means of the prophets have I spoken in similitudes.
11 Gilead yɛ otirimɔdenfo ana? Emu nnipa no yɛ ahuhufo! Wɔde anantwi bɔ afɔre wɔ Gilgal ana? Wɔn afɔremuka bɛyɛ te sɛ abo a wɔahɔre no siw wɔ asase a wɔafuntum so.
If in Gil'ad there was misfortune, [it is because] there was naught but idolatry; in Gilgal they sacrificed bullocks [to idols]: their altars also are as stone-heaps on the furrows of the fields.
12 Yakob guan kɔɔ Aramfo asase so; Israel som de nyaa ɔyere, ɔhwɛɛ nguan de tuaa ti nsa.
And Jacob fled into the fields of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept [the flocks].
13 Awurade nam odiyifo so yii Israel fii Misraim, ɔnam odiyifo so hwɛɛ no.
And by a prophet did the Lord bring Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he guarded.
14 Nanso Efraim ahyɛ no abufuw yayaayaw; nʼAwurade bɛma ne mogyahwiegu ho afɔdi ada no so na obetua nʼanimtiaabu no so ka.
[Yet] Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly: therefore will his Lord cast his blood-guiltiness upon him, and his reproach will he recompense unto him.

< Hosea 12 >