Israel Asotwe
1Nni ahurusi, Israel;
nsɛpɛw wo ho te sɛ aman a aka no.
Efisɛ woanni wo Nyankopɔn nokware,
wʼani gye aguamammɔ ho
wɔ awiporowbea nyinaa so.
2Awiporowbea ne nsakyiamoa rentumi mma nnipa no aduan;
nsa foforo nso bɛbɔ wɔn.
3Wɔrentena Awurade asase no so bio;
Efraim bɛsan akɔ Misraim
na wadi aduan a ɛho ntew wɔ Asiria.
4Wɔremmɔ ahwiesa afɔre mma Awurade,
na wɔn afɔrebɔ nso nsɔ nʼani.
Saa afɔrebɔ yi bɛyɛ sɛ asufo brodo de ama wɔn;
wɔn a wodi nyinaa ho begu fi.
Saa aduan no bɛyɛ wɔn ankasa dea
na wɔrentumi mmfa nkɔ Awurade asɔredan mu.
5Dɛn na mobɛyɛ wɔ mo aponto da no
ne Awurade afahyɛnna no nso?
6Mpo sɛ woguan fi ɔsɛe mu a
Misraim bɛboaboa wɔn ano,
na Memfis besie wɔn.
Wɔn dwetɛ ahonyade befuw wura,
na wɔn ntamadan adan nsɔe.
7Asotwe nna no reba,
akontaabu nna no adu;
ma Israel nhu eyi.
Esiane mo bɔne bebrebe
ne mo akokoakoko a adɔɔso nti
mofa no sɛ odiyifo yɛ kwasea,
na nea honhom akanyan no no yɛ ɔbɔdamfo.
8Odiyifo no ne me Nyankopɔn
yɛ Efraim so wɛmfo,
nanso wɔasum no afiri wɔ nʼakwan nyinaa so,
na ɔtan ahyɛ ne Nyankopɔn fi ma.
9Wɔadu porɔwee bun mu,
sɛnea na ɛte wɔ Gibea nna no mu.
Onyankopɔn bɛkae wɔn atirimɔden
na watwe wɔn aso wɔ wɔn bɔne ho.
10“Bere a mihuu Israel no,
na ɛte sɛ nea mahu bobe wɔ nweatam so;
bere a mihuu mo agyanom no,
na ɛte sɛ nea mahu borɔdɔma aba a edi kan wɔ ne dua so.
Nanso bere a wɔbaa Baal-Peor nkyɛn no
wodwiraa wɔn ho maa ohoni nimguaseni no.
Wɔn ho yɛɛ nwini te sɛ ohoni a wɔdɔ no no ara.
11Efraim anuonyam betu akɔ sɛ anomaa,
nyinsɛn ne awo nni ne mu.
12Mpo sɛ wɔtetew mmofra a,
mɛma mmofra no awuwu wɔ wɔn nsa mu.
Wonnue,
sɛ miyi mʼani fi wɔn so a!
13Mahu Efraim te sɛ Tiro,
a ɛda baabi a eye.
Nanso Efraim de ne mma
bɛbrɛ okumfo no.”
14Fa ma wɔn, Awurade,
dɛn na wode bɛma wɔn?
Ma wɔn ɔyafunu a ɛpɔn
ne nufu a nufusu nni mu.
15“Wɔn atirimɔdensɛm nyinaa a wodii wɔ Gilgal nti,
mefaa wɔn ho tan wɔ hɔ.
Wɔn nnebɔne nti
mɛpam wɔn afi me fi.
Merennɔ wɔn bio;
efisɛ wɔn ntuanofo nyinaa yɛ atuatewfo.
16Efraim agyigya,
wɔn ntin akisa,
nti wɔnsow aba.
Sɛ wɔwo mma mpo a,
mekunkum wɔn mma a wɔdɔ wɔn no.”
17Me Nyankopɔn bɛpo wɔn,
efisɛ, wɔanyɛ osetie amma no;
Wobekyinkyin aman no mu.
Punishment for Israel
1Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilant like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitute
at every threshing floor.
2Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine will fail them.
3They will not remain in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt
and eat unclean food in Assyria.
4They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord,
nor will their sacrifices please him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;
all who eat them will be unclean.
This food will be for themselves;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.
5What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals,
on the feast days of the Lord?
6Even if they escape from destruction,
Egypt will gather them,
and Memphis will bury them.
Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers,
and thorns will overrun their tents.
7The days of punishment are coming,
the days of reckoning are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sins are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,
the inspired person a maniac.
8The prophet, along with my God,
is the watchman over Ephraim,9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God
yet snares await him on all his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.
9They have sunk deep into corruption,
as in the days of Gibeah.
God will remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.
10“When I found Israel,
it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,
they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol
and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.
12Even if they rear children,
I will bereave them of every one.
Woe to them
when I turn away from them!
13I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place.
But Ephraim will bring out
their children to the slayer.”
14Give them, Lord—
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that are dry.
15“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,
I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;
all their leaders are rebellious.
16Ephraim is blighted,
their root is withered,
they yield no fruit.
Even if they bear children,
I will slay their cherished offspring.”
17My God will reject them
because they have not obeyed him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.
