< Hosea 2 >

1 “Frɛ wo nuammarimanom ‘Me nkurɔfoɔ’ na frɛ wo nuammaanom ‘Mʼadɔfoɔ.’”
Say ye to your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
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.
Plead with your mother, plead: for she [is] not my wife, neither [am] I her husband: let her therefore put away her prostitutions out of her sight, and her adulteries 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.
Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.
4 Merennɔ ne mma, ɛfiri sɛ wɔyɛ adwaman mma.
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they [are] the children of lewdness.
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 hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give [me] my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my 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 thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
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.’
And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find [them]: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then [was it] better with me 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 did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [which] they prepared 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 will I return, and take away my corn in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will recover my wool and my flax [given] to cover her nakedness.
10 Enti afei mɛbɔ no adagya wɔ nʼadɔfoɔ anim; obiara rentumi nnye no mfiri me nsam.
And now will I disclose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.
11 Mɛtwa nʼafahyɛ nyinaa so: nʼafenhyia afahyɛ, Ɔbosome Foforɔ afahyɛ Home Ɛda afahyɛ ne nʼafahyɛ ahodoɔ nyinaa.
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn 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.
And I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees, of which she hath said, These [are] my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat 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.
And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, in which she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her ear-rings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the LORD.
14 “Enti merekɔdaadaa no; mede no bɛkɔ anweatam so na makasa bɔkɔɔ akyerɛ no wɔ hɔ.
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her.
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.
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came from the land of Egypt.
16 “Saa ɛda no,” sei na Awurade seɛ, “Wobɛfrɛ me ‘me kunu’; na woremfrɛ me ‘me wura’ bio.
And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, [that] thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
17 Mɛyi Baal ahodoɔ din no afiri nʼano; na ɔrenkankye wɔ wɔn din mu bio.
For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
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.
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and [with] the creeping animals of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down in safety.
19 Mɛware wo afebɔɔ; mɛyi tenenee ne atɛntenenee, ahummɔborɔ ne ayamhyehyeɛ akyerɛ wo.
And I will betroth thee to me for ever; yes, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.
20 Mɛware wo nokorɛ mu, ama woahunu Awurade.
I will even betroth thee to me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
21 “Saa ɛda no, mɛgye wo so,” deɛ Awurade seɛ nie. “Mɛgye ɔsoro so, na ɔsoro de osuo bɛgye asase so,
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear 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 shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear 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 to me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to [them who were] not my people, Thou [art] my people; and they shall say, [Thou art] my God.

< Hosea 2 >