UHoseya 2

1 “Tshono kubafowenu uthi, ‘Bantu bami,’ ngabodadewenu uthi, ‘Bathandekayo bami.’”

Say unto your brethren Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

2 “Mkhuze unyoko, mkhuze, ngoba engasuye mkami, lami kangisuye mkakhe. Kasuse ukukhangeleka kobufebe ebusweni bakhe kanye lokungathembeki phakathi kwamabele akhe.

Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

3 Funa ngimhlubule abe nqunu, ngimenze abeze njengamhla ezalwa; ngizamenza abe njengenkangala, ngimenze abe yilizwe elomileyo ngimbulale ngokomela amanzi.

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 as a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

4 Kangiyikubonakalisa uthando lwami ebantwaneni bakhe, ngoba bangabantwana bobufebe.

And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of whoredoms.

5 Unina ubeyisifebe, njalo ubemule ngehlazo. Wathi, ‘Ngizazilandela izithandwa zami, ezingipha ukudla kwami lamanzi ami, iwulu yami lamalembu ami, amafutha ami lokunathwayo kwami.’

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, mine oil and my drink.

6 Ngakho-ke indlela yakhe ngizayivala ngamahlahla ameva; ngizamhonqolozela ngomduli ukuze indlela yakhe angayifumani.

Therefore behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns; and I will fence [her] in with a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

7 Uzaxotshana lezithandwa zakhe kodwa angazifici, uzazidinga kodwa angazitholi. Ngakho uzakuthi, ‘Ngizabuyela endodeni yami yakuqala, ngoba ngalesosikhathi ngangingcono kulakhathesi.’

And she shall pursue after her lovers, and shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, and shall not find them: and she shall say, I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now.

8 Kavumanga ukuthi yimi engamnika amabele, lewayini elitsha lamafutha ngamnika isiliva esinengi legolide abakusebenzisela uBhali.

And she did not know that I had given her the corn and the new wine and the oil, and had multiplied to her the silver and gold, which they employed for Baal.

9 Ngakho-ke ngizawathatha amabele ami lapho esevuthiwe, lewayini lami elitsha lapho selilungile. Ngizayithatha lewulu yami kanye lelineni lami, okwakumiselwe ukuvala ubunqunu bakhe.

Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my new wine in its season, and will withdraw my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

10 Ngakho khathesi ngizahlazulula ukuxhwala bakhe emehlweni ezithandwa zakhe; kakho ozamsusa ezandleni zami.

And now will I discover her impiety in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

11 Ngizayiqeda yonke imikhosi yakhe yokuthokoza: imikhosi yakhe yeminyaka yonke, ukuThwasa kweziNyanga, insuku zakhe zamaSabatha, yonke imikhosi yakhe emisiweyo.

And I will cause all her mirth to cease: her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths! and all her solemnities.

12 Ngizatshabalalisa izivini zakhe lezihlahla zakhe zemikhiwa, lokhu athi yinhlawulo yakhe evela kuzithandwa zakhe; ngizazenza zibe liguswanyana zidliwe yizinyamazana zeganga.

And I will make desolate her vine and her fig-tree, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards which my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13 Ngizamjezisela insuku atshisela ngazo oBhali impepha; wazicecisa ngamasongo langamangqongqo, walandela izithandwa zakhe, kodwa mina wangikhohlwa,” kutsho uThixo.

And I will visit upon her the days of the Baals, wherein she burned incense to them, and decked herself with her rings and jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith Jehovah.

14 “Ngakho sengizamhuga; ngizamholela enkangala ngikhulume laye kakuhle.

Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart.

15 Lapho-ke ngizambuyisela izivini zakhe, ngenze iSigodi sase-Akhori sibe ngumnyango wethemba. Khonapho uzahlabelela njengasezinsukwini zobutsha bakhe, njengamhla ephuma eGibhithe.

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 up out of the land of Egypt.

16 Ngalolosuku,” kutsho uThixo, “lizangibiza ngokuthi ‘ndoda yami’; kalisayikungibiza ngokuthi ‘nkosi yami.’

And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, [that] thou shalt call me, My husband, and shalt call me no more, Baali;

17 Ngizawasusa amabizo aboBhali ezindebeni zakhe; amabizo abo akusayikukhulekwa ngawo futhi.

for I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

18 Ngalolosuku ngizabenzela isivumelwano lezinyamazana zeganga lezinyoni zasemoyeni kanye lezidalwa ezihuquzela emhlabathini. Idandili lenkemba kanye lempi ngizakuqeda elizweni ukuze konke kulale phansi kuvikelekile.

And I will make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will break bow and sword and battle out of the land; and I will make them to lie down safely.

19 Ngizakwendisela kimi kuze kube nininini; ngizakwendisa ngokulunga langemfanelo, ngothando langesihawu.

And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; and I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies;

20 Ngizakwendisa ngokuthembeka, njalo uzamamukela uThixo.

and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know Jehovah.

21 Ngalolosuku ngizasabela,” kutsho uThixo, “Ngizasabela emikhathini, layo izasabela emhlabeni,

And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

22 lomhlaba uzasabela emabeleni lasewayinini elitsha kanye lasemafutheni, lokhu kuzasabela kuJezerili.

and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel.

23 Ngizazihlanyelela yena elizweni; ngizabonakalisa uthando lwami kulowo engambiza ngokuthi, ‘Akasi sithandwa sami.’ Ngizakuthi kulabo ababizwa ngokuthi, ‘Abangasibantu bami,’ ‘Lingabantu bami’; bona bazakuthi, ‘UnguNkulunkulu wethu.’”

And I will sow her unto me in the land; and I will have mercy upon Lo-ruhamah; and I will say to Lo-ammi, Thou art my people; and they shall say, My God.