Mambo Hosheya we Iziraela
1 Mu gole le bugumi lina mabili le mbuso wa Ahazi mambo we Juda, Hosheya nkololo wa Ela katangisa kubusa Iziraela mu Samariya, ngono kabusa makole ali zhanalume. 2 Kathama mbipo mu mesho a Yahwe koga kusi sa bomambo be Iziraela bakabusa mbeli kukwe.
3 Shalimanesa mambo we Asiriya kazha kuwonginilila, ngono Hosheya kanthigamila kandusila likhetho. 4 Ngono mambo we Asiriya kabona bupitipiti muna Hosheya ngobe wakabe atuma batumwa kuna So, mambo we Egipiti ngono kasitjaduse likhetho kuna mambo we Asiriya, sekwaakabe ethama gole nge gole. Ndizowali Shalimanesa kambhata kanlonga mu ng'umba ye busungwa.
Kuwa kwe Samariya
5 Mambo we Asiriya kamilika kanginilila shango yose, kakomba Samariya nge ngwa kwe makole matatu. 6 Mu gole le buzhanalume le mbuso wa Hosheya, mambo we Asiriya katapa Samariya ngono kasengela Baiziraela ku Asiriya mu busungwa. Ngono kabagadza mu Hala ne mu Habori gwizi gwe Gozani ne mu mizi mikulu ye Mediya. 7 Kose ikoku kwakashingikala ngobe Baiziraela bakabe batjinyila Yahwe Ndzimu wabo, iye wakabadusa mu shango ye Egipiti pasi kwe simba la Faro mambo we Egipiti, bakanamata midzimu ipoga 8 ngono bakatobela mipanga ye njudzi dzakatatiwa ndi Yahwe mbeli kwe Baiziraela, bakatobela mipanga ya bomambo be Iziraela. 9 Bathu be Iziraela bakathamila zwithu mu ikowa zwisakalulwama kuna Yahwe Ndzimu wabo. Bakazwibakila magalo akatuthumala e zwibhayilo mu mizi yabo yose mikulu, kudwa mu mizi ina thungamakole kunoti ku mizi ye matizhilo. 10 Bakazwibigila mabgwe e pano namatigwa ne mapango e ndzimukadzi Ashera mu duthu limwe ne limwe na kusi kwe nti mmwe ne mmwe ntala, 11 ngono bakapisila motsha mu magalo wose akatuthumala sekwakathama njudzi dzakatatiwa ndi Yahwe mbeli kwabo. Bakathama zwithu zwakabipa zwakalonga Yahwe bushongola. 12 Bakanamata midzimu yakabezhiwa nenguba Yahwe bakabe bati, “Musithame ikoku.” 13 Yahwe bakabe batjemela Iziraela ne Juda nge balebesambeli bose ne nge baboni bose beti, “Shandukilani zila dzenyu dzakabipa ngono mu bhate milayo yangu kuyendidzana nge nlayo wose wandakapa botate benyu na iwo wandakamupa nge balanda bangu balebesambeli.” 14 Koga bakasiteedze ngono bakabe nge misholo yakasima sa botate babo bakabe basingagalemoyo muna Yahwe Ndzimu wabo. 15 Bakalamba ndaulo dzabo ne tjidumano tja wakabe wathama na botate babo na sekwawakabe wa tjemela. Bakatobela midzimu ye manyepkhwa bakasala basi bathu betjimwe, bakatobela njudzi dzakabe dzakabapoteleka nenguba Yahwe bakabe bababudza kuti basithame sekwadzinothama. 16 Ngono bakasiya milayo yose ya Yahwe Ndzimu wabo, bakazwithamila phulu mbili dzakabumbiwa ngono bakathama ifano tja Ashera bakathigamila mibunga yose ye kudzimu ngono bakashingila Bhaale. 17 Bakapisa bakololo babo ne bakololokadzi babo kuli zwibhayilo, bakashingisa bemasalamusi ne ng'anga, bakazwipa mu kuthama mbipo mu mesho a Yahwe, bebalonga bushongola. 18 Ndizo Yahwe bakazhala bushongola ngekwe Iziraela ngono bakabadusa pa mesho abo, akuna wakasala kuzhe kwe ludzi gwa Juda koga. 19 Ngono Bajuta nayibobo bakasi bhate milayo ya Yahwe Ndzimu wabo, koga bakatobela zila dze Baiziraela. 20 Ngono Yahwe bakalasha ludzi gose gwe Iziraela, bakabaloba shamu ngono bakabalonga mu maboko e batapi kuswikila babadusa pa mesho abo. 21 Kwakati Yahwe badusa Baiziraela mu ng'umba ya Dafite, Baiziraela bakabiga Jeroboamu nkololo wa Nebati kube mambo. Ngono Jeroboamu kakwebela Baiziraela kule na Yahwe, ngono kabathamisa tjibi tjikulu kwazo. 22 Bathu be Iziraela bakatobela zwibi zose zwakathamwa ndi Jeroboamu, bakasithubakane nazo, 23 kuswikila Yahwe badusa Baiziraela mu mesho abo sekwa bakaleba nge balanda babo balebesambeli. Ndizo Baiziraela bakadusiwa mu shango yabo bakagala mu busungwa ku Asiriya kuswikila nasi.
Baasiriya banogala mu Iziraela
24 Mambo we Asiriya kazhisa bathu banodwa ku Bhabhiloni ne Khuta ne Ava ne Hamati ne Sefarivaimu ngono kababiga mu mizi ye Samariya mu bumo gwe Baiziraela. Bakatola Samariya bakagala mu mizi yayo. 25 Ngono mu kutangisa kugala kwabo ikoko bakasitje Yahwe, ndizo Yahwe bakatumila shumba mubali dzikabulaya bamwe babo. 26 Kukanobudziwa mambo we Asiriya kuyi, “Zwitjaba zwamakatola munobiga ku mizi ye Samariya azwitoziba nlayo we Ndzimu we shango, ndizo watumila shumba mubali ngono dzobabulaya ngobe basingazibe nlayo we Ndzimu we shango.” 27 Ngono mambo we Asiriya kabadwa eti, “Tumilani mmwe we bapirisiti wamakasunga kudwa ku Samariya kuti abgwilile anogala ikweno ngono adiye bathu nlayo we Ndzimu we shango.” 28 Ndizo mmwe we bapirisiti wabakatola ku Samariya kazha kagala mu Bhetele, ngono kabadiya kuti banamate Yahwe tjini. 29 Koga itjaba tjimwe ne tjimwe tjikazwithamila ndzimu watjo mu mizi yabakabe begala, ngono bakayibiga mu magalo akatuthumala e zwibhayilo akabe athamiwa nge Basamariya. 30 Balume be Bhabhiloni bakathama ifano tja Sukotibhenoti, balume be Khuti bakathama tja Nagali, balume be Hamati bakathama tja Ashima, 31 ngono Baavi bakathama tja Nibhazi na Taritaki, ngono Basefavaimu bakapisila Adirameleki na Anameleki midzimu yabo bana babo mu moto. 32 Bakanamata Yahwe, koga naibobo bakazwibigila bapirisiti babo mu magalo akatuthumala e zwibhayilo, bakabe bedusa zwibhayilo mu bumo gwabo mu magalo akatuthumala. 33 Bakanamata Yahwe, koga bakashingila midzimu yabo kuyendidzana nge mipanga ye njudzi dzabakadwa ku dzili. 34 Kuswikila nasi batjathama mazwibhato abo a ntolo. Abato namata Yahwe kene kuli ku tobela milayo ya Yahwe yabakapa bana ba Jakubo iye wabakadana Iziraela. 35 Yahwe bakathama tjidumano nabo ngono bakabadwa bakati, “Musitongo namata midzimu ipoga kene kuli kuyithigamila kene kuyishingila kene kuyidusila zwibhayilo. 36 Koga munamate Yahwe, ibo bakamudusa mu shango ye Egipiti nge simba gulu ne nge luboko gwabo gwakatambunidziwa, mu thigamile ibo ngono mu badusile zwibhayilo. 37 Mube ne njele ku londolodza milayo yabo yabakamukwalila. Musinamate midzimu ipoga. 38 Musikangang'we tjidumano tjandakathama namwi ngono musithigamile midzimu ipoga. 39 Koga munamate Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu, ngono banowomusunungula mu luboko gwe zwita zwenyu zose.” 40 Koga bakasiteedze ngono bakadwilila nge mipanga yabo ya ntolo. 41 Zwitjaba izwezo zwikathigamila Yahwe ngono kakale beshingila midzimu yabo. Nanasi bana babo ne bana be bana babo banothama sa botate babo.
King Hoshea of Israel
1 In the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for nine years. 2 He sinned against the Lord, but not as much as the kings who had ruled Israel before him. 3 Emperor Shalmaneser of Assyria made war against him; Hoshea surrendered to Shalmaneser and paid him tribute every year. 4 But one year Hoshea sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, asking for his help, and stopped paying the annual tribute to Assyria. When Shalmaneser learned of this, he had Hoshea arrested and put in prison.
The Fall of Samaria
5 Then Shalmaneser invaded Israel and besieged Samaria. In the third year of the siege, 6 which was the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the Assyrian emperor captured Samaria, took the Israelites to Assyria as prisoners, and settled some of them in the city of Halah, some near the Habor River in the district of Gozan and some in the cities of Media.
7 Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, 8 followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. 10 On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, 11 and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds 12 and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols.
13 The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: “Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. 15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. 16 They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. 18 The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah.
19 But even the people of Judah did not obey the laws of the Lord their God; they imitated the customs adopted by the people of Israel. 20 The Lord rejected all the Israelites, punishing them and handing them over to cruel enemies until at last he had banished them from his sight.
21 After the Lord had separated Israel from Judah, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam caused them to abandon the Lord and led them into terrible sins. 22 They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed, 23 until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live.
The Assyrians Settle in Israel
24 The emperor of Assyria took people from the cities of Babylon, Cuth, Ivvah, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the exiled Israelites. They took possession of these cities and lived there. 25 When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord, and so he sent lions, which killed some of them. 26 The emperor of Assyria was told that the people he had settled in the cities of Samaria did not know the law of the god of that land, and so the god had sent lions, which were killing them. 27 So the emperor commanded: “Send back one of the priests we brought as prisoners; have him go back and live there, in order to teach the people the law of the god of that land.” 28 So an Israelite priest who had been deported from Samaria went and lived in Bethel, where he taught the people how to worship the Lord.
29 But the people who settled in Samaria continued to make their own idols, and they placed them in the shrines that the Israelites had built. Each different group made idols in the cities they were living in: 30 the people of Babylon made idols of the god Succoth Benoth; the people of Cuth, idols of Nergal; the people of Hamath, idols of Ashima; 31 the people of Ivvah, idols of Nibhaz and Tartak; and the people of Sepharvaim sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech. 32 These people also worshiped the Lord and chose from among their own number all sorts of people to serve as priests at the pagan places of worship and to offer sacrifices for them there. 33 So they worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods according to the customs of the countries from which they had come.
34 They still carry on their old customs to this day. They do not worship the Lord nor do they obey the laws and commands which he gave to the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The Lord had made a covenant with them and had ordered them: “Do not worship other gods; do not bow down to them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them. 36 You shall obey me, the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great power and strength; you are to bow down to me and offer sacrifices to me. 37 You shall always obey the laws and commands that I wrote for you. You shall not obey other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant I made with you. 39 You shall obey me, the Lord your God, and I will rescue you from your enemies.” 40 But those people would not listen, and they continued to follow their old customs.
41 So those people worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their idols; and to this day their descendants continue to do the same.