Asɔfo No Animka
1Afei mo asɔfo, saa animka yi yɛ mo de. 2Sɛ moantie, sɛ moanyɛ mo adwene sɛ mobɛhyɛ me anuonyam a mede nnome bɛba mo so, na mɛdan mo nhyira ama ayɛ nnome. Yiw, madome wɔn dedaw, efisɛ monyɛɛ mo adwene sɛ mobɛhyɛ me anuonyam, sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni.
3Mo nti mɛka mo asefo anim, na mede mo afahyɛ afɔrebɔ mmoa no agyanan bɛpete mo anim, na wɔasoa mo aka ho akɔ. 4Na mubehu sɛ, masoma ma wɔde saa animka yi abrɛ mo sɛnea ɛbɛyɛ a me ne Lewi apam no bɛkɔ so atena hɔ. Sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni. 5Me ne no yɛɛ apam, nkwa ne asomdwoe apam. Na ehia ma nidi, enti ɔde nidi maa me na ɔde fɛre maa me din. 6Nokware nkyerɛkyerɛ fii nʼanom, na wanka nkontomposɛm biara. Ɔne me nantew asomdwoe ne nokwaredi mu, na ɔmaa bebree dan wɔn ho fii bɔne ho.
7“Ɛsɛ sɛ, ɔsɔfo ano kora nimdeɛ. Nnipa hwehwɛ nkyerɛkyerɛ fi ne nkyɛn, efisɛ ɔyɛ Asafo Awurade no somafo. 8Nanso moaman afi ɔkwan no so, na mo nkyerɛkyerɛ ama bebree ahintihintiw; moabu me ne Lewi apam no so.” Sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni. 9“Enti mama mo anim agu ase na mabrɛ mo ase wɔ nnipa anim, efisɛ moannantew mʼakwan so na mmom mode animhwɛ abu mmara so.”
Yuda Anni Nokware
10Yɛn nyinaa mfi Agya baako? Ɛnyɛ Onyankopɔn baako na ɔbɔɔ yɛn? Na, afei, adɛn nti na yenni yɛn ho yɛn ho nokware, na yɛde bu yɛn agyanom apam no so?
11Yuda anni nokware. Akyiwadeyɛ bi asi wɔ Israel ne Yerusalem mu: Yuda agu hyiadan a Awurade dɔ no ho fi, efisɛ waware ɔbea a ɔsom ananafo nyame. 12Ɔbarima a ɔyɛ eyi de, sɛnea ɔte biara, Awurade mpam no mfi Yakob ntamadan mu, mpo sɛ ɔde afɔrebɔde brɛ Asafo Awurade no koraa a.
13Ade a moyɛ bio ne sɛ: mode nusu fɔw Awurade afɔremuka no. Mote nusu na mutwa adwo efisɛ ɔnhwɛ mo afɔrebɔde no bio, na ɔmmfa anigye nnye mfi mo nkyɛn. 14Mubisa se, “Adɛn nti?” Efisɛ Awurade te sɛ ɔdanseni a ɔda wo ne wo mmerantebere mu yere ntam, nanso woanni no nokware, ɛwɔ mu sɛ ɔyɛ wo yere wɔ aware nhyehyɛe mu de.
15Ɛnyɛ Awurade koro no ara na ɔbɔɔ mo? Ɔhonam fam ne honhom fam no, moyɛ ne dea. Dɛn na Onyankopɔn hwehwɛ? Ɔrehwehwɛ mma a onyamesuro wɔ wɔn mu. Enti da wo ho so wɔ honhom mu, na di wo mmerantebere mu yere nokware.
16“Mikyi awaregyae!” Sɛnea Awurade Israel Nyankopɔn se ni. “Na metan ɔbarima a ɔde abufuwhyew hyɛ ne yere so na ɔsan de ne ntama kata no so,” sɛnea Asafo Awurade se ni.
Enti da wo ho so wɔ honhom mu, na di nokware.
Atemmuda
17Mode mo nsɛm tuatua Awurade aso.
Mubisa se, “Ɔkwan bɛn so na moatuatua nʼaso?”
Moka se, “Wɔn a wɔyɛ bɔne nyinaa sen wɔ Awurade anim, na wɔsɔ nʼani,” anaa “Onyankopɔn temmufo nokwafo no wɔ he?”
Additional warning to the priests
1‘And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 2If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honour my name,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honour me.
3‘Because of you I will rebuke your descendants2:3 Or will blight your corn; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. 4And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,’ says the Lord Almighty. 5‘My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
7‘For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. 8But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,’ says the Lord Almighty. 9‘So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.’
Breaking covenant through divorce
10Do we not all have one Father2:10 Or father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?
11Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god. 12As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob2:12 Or 12 May the Lord remove from the tents of Jacob anyone who gives testimony on behalf of the man who does this – even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty.
13Another thing you do: you flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favour on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14You ask, ‘Why?’ It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
15Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.2:15 The meaning of the Hebrew for the first part of this verse is uncertain. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
16‘The man who hates and divorces his wife,’ says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘does violence to the one he should protect,’2:16 Or ‘I hate divorce,’ says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘because the man who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,’ says the Lord Almighty.
So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Breaking covenant through injustice
17You have wearied the Lord with your words.
‘How have we wearied him?’ you ask.
By saying, ‘All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’
