< Hosea 2 >

1 “Frɛ wo nuammarimanom ‘Me nkurɔfoɔ’ na frɛ wo nuammaanom ‘Mʼadɔfoɔ.’”
“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’
2 “Ka wo maame anim, ka nʼanim, na ɔnnyɛ me yere na mennyɛ ne kunu. Ma ɔnsesa nʼanim a ayɛ adwaman anim no na ɔnnyae awaresɛeɛ a ɔde ne nufu yɛ no.
Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
3 Anyɛ saa a mɛpa ne ho ntoma na wada adagya te sɛ ɛda a wɔwoo no; mɛma wayɛ sɛ anweatam, mɛdane no asase a awo wesee na mama osukɔm akum no.
Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst.
4 Merennɔ ne mma, ɛfiri sɛ wɔyɛ adwaman mma.
I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.
5 Wɔn maame anyɛ ɔnokwafoɔ na ɔnyinsɛnee wɔn wɔ animguaseɛ mu. Ɔkaa sɛ, ‘Mɛdi mʼadɔfoɔ akyi, wɔn a wɔma me aduane ne nsuo, ne kuntu ne nwera, ngo ne nsã.’
For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’
6 Yei enti, mede nkasɛɛ bɛsi no ɛkwan; mɛto ɔfasuo afa no ho, sɛdeɛ ɛbɛyɛ a ɔnhunu ɛkwan.
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.
7 Ɔbɛti nʼadɔfoɔ nanso ɔrento wɔn; ɔbɛhwehwɛ wɔn, nanso ɔrenhunu wɔn. Afei, ɔbɛka sɛ, ‘Mɛsane akɔ me kunu nkyɛn, te sɛ kane no, ɛfiri sɛ, saa ɛberɛ no na ɛyɛ ma me sene seesei.’
She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband, for then I was better off than now.’
8 Ɔnnkae sɛ me na memaa no aduane, nsã foforɔ ne ngo, deɛ ɔmaa sikakɔkɔɔ ne dwetɛ buu no so ma wɔde kɔsom Baal no.
For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold— which they crafted for Baal.
9 “Enti, sɛ mʼaduane no duru twaberɛ a mɛfa mʼadeɛ, ne me nsã foforɔ no nso saa ara. Mɛgye me kuntu ne me nwera, a anka mepɛ sɛ ɔde kata nʼadagya so no.
Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.
10 Enti afei mɛbɔ no adagya wɔ nʼadɔfoɔ anim; obiara rentumi nnye no mfiri me nsam.
And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.
11 Mɛtwa nʼafahyɛ nyinaa so: nʼafenhyia afahyɛ, Ɔbosome Foforɔ afahyɛ Home Ɛda afahyɛ ne nʼafahyɛ ahodoɔ nyinaa.
I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her appointed feasts.
12 Mɛsɛe ne bobe ne borɔdɔma nnua, deɛ ɔka sɛ nʼadɔfoɔ de tuaa no ka no; mɛyɛ ne nyinaa nkyɛkyerɛ, ama wiram mmoa awe.
I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers. So I will make them into a thicket, and the beasts of the field will devour them.
13 Mɛtwe nʼaso wɔ nna a ɔhyee aduhwam maa Baal no ho; ɔde nkawa ne agudeɛ hyehyɛɛ ne ho, tu dii nʼadɔfoɔ akyi, medeɛ ne werɛ firii me,” deɛ Awurade seɛ nie.
I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,”
14 “Enti merekɔdaadaa no; mede no bɛkɔ anweatam so na makasa bɔkɔɔ akyerɛ no wɔ hɔ.
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.
15 Mɛsane de ne bobe mfuo ama no. Mɛyɛ Akɔr bɔnhwa no, anidasoɔ ɛkwan. Ɛhɔ na ɔbɛto dwom sɛdeɛ na ɔyɛ ne mmabunu berɛ mu no ne ɛberɛ a ɔfirii Misraim no.
There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
16 “Saa ɛda no,” sei na Awurade seɛ, “Wobɛfrɛ me ‘me kunu’; na woremfrɛ me ‘me wura’ bio.
In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’
17 Mɛyi Baal ahodoɔ din no afiri nʼano; na ɔrenkankye wɔ wɔn din mu bio.
For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.
18 Saa ɛda no, mɛyɛ apam ama wɔn, wɔne wiram mmoa ne ewiem nnomaa ne mmoa a wɔwea wɔ asase so. Tadua, mpea ne ɔko, mɛbra wɔ asase no so sɛdeɛ wɔn nyinaa bɛtena ase asomdwoeɛ mu.
On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.
19 Mɛware wo afebɔɔ; mɛyi tenenee ne atɛntenenee, ahummɔborɔ ne ayamhyehyeɛ akyerɛ wo.
So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.
20 Mɛware wo nokorɛ mu, ama woahunu Awurade.
And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”
21 “Saa ɛda no, mɛgye wo so,” deɛ Awurade seɛ nie. “Mɛgye ɔsoro so, na ɔsoro de osuo bɛgye asase so,
“On that day I will respond—” declares the LORD— “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth.
22 na asase nso bɛgye mfudeɛ so: bobe foforɔ ne ngo dua, na wɔn nso agye so sɛ ‘Yesreel’, ‘Onyankopɔn na wadua’.
And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.
23 Mede Israel bɛdua asase no so ama me ho; mɛda me dɔ adi akyerɛ deɛ mekaa sɛ ‘wonnyɛ me dɔfo’ no. Meka akyerɛ wɔn a mesee wɔn sɛ ‘monnyɛ me nkurɔfoɔ’ sɛ ‘moyɛ me nkurɔfoɔ’, na wɔn nso aka sɛ, ‘Wone me Onyankopɔn.’”
And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

< Hosea 2 >