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The Punishment of Israel

Do not rejoice, O Israel!
    Do not exult[a] like the peoples,
for you have played the whore departing from your God.
    You have loved a prostitute’s wages
    on every threshing floor.
The threshing floor and the winepress will not feed them,
    and the new wine will fail in her.
They will not dwell in the land of the Lord;
    but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
    and they will eat unclean things in Assyria.
They will not offer wine offerings to the Lord,
    and their sacrifices will not please Him.
Their sacrifices will be like the bread of mourners;
    all who eat of it will be defiled.
For their bread will be only to satisfy their own hunger;
    it will not come into the house of the Lord.

What will you do on the appointed day,
    and on the day of the festival of the Lord?
For indeed they are gone because of destruction.
    Egypt will gather them,
    and Memphis will bury them.
Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver,
    and thorns will be in their tents.
The days of punishment have come;
    the days of recompense have come.
    Israel knows!
The prophet is a fool;
    the man of the spirit is insane,
because of your great iniquity and great hatred.
The watchman of Ephraim is a prophet
    for my God;
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
    and hatred in the house of his God.
They have deeply corrupted themselves
    as in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity,
    He will punish their sins.

10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
    I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season,
    I saw your fathers.
But they went to Baal Peor
    and consecrated themselves to a thing of shame,
    and they became an abomination like the thing they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird:
    no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Though they bring up their children,
    I will bereave them until none are left.
Woe to them indeed,
    when I depart from them!
13 Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place,
so now Ephraim will bring out
    his children for slaughter.

14 Give them, O Lord
    what will You give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
    and dry breasts.

15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal,
    for there I hated them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds,
    I will drive them out of My house.
I will love them no more.
    All their princes are rebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken,
    their root is dried up,
    they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
    I will slay the beloved offspring of their womb.

17 My God will reject them
    because they did not listen to Him,
    and they will be wanderers among the nations.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:1 Gk.; Heb. to exultation.

Punishment for Israel

Do not rejoice, Israel;
    do not be jubilant(A) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful(B) to your God;
    you love the wages of a prostitute(C)
    at every threshing floor.
Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
    the new wine(D) will fail them.
They will not remain(E) in the Lord’s land;
    Ephraim will return to Egypt(F)
    and eat unclean food in Assyria.(G)
They will not pour out wine offerings(H) to the Lord,
    nor will their sacrifices please(I) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;(J)
    all who eat them will be unclean.(K)
This food will be for themselves;
    it will not come into the temple of the Lord.(L)

What will you do(M) on the day of your appointed festivals,(N)
    on the feast days of the Lord?
Even if they escape from destruction,
    Egypt will gather them,(O)
    and Memphis(P) will bury them.(Q)
Their treasures of silver(R) will be taken over by briers,
    and thorns(S) will overrun their tents.
The days of punishment(T) are coming,
    the days of reckoning(U) are at hand.
    Let Israel know this.
Because your sins(V) are so many
    and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,(W)
    the inspired person a maniac.(X)
The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,[a]
yet snares(Y) await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.(Z)
They have sunk deep into corruption,(AA)
    as in the days of Gibeah.(AB)
God will remember(AC) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.(AD)

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(AE) on the fig(AF) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,(AG)
    they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol(AH)
    and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory(AI) will fly away like a bird(AJ)
    no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(AK)
12 Even if they rear children,
    I will bereave(AL) them of every one.
Woe(AM) to them
    when I turn away from them!(AN)
13 I have seen Ephraim,(AO) like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place.(AP)
But Ephraim will bring out
    their children to the slayer.”(AQ)

14 Give them, Lord
    what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
    and breasts that are dry.(AR)

15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,(AS)
    I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,(AT)
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;(AU)
    all their leaders are rebellious.(AV)
16 Ephraim(AW) is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.(AX)
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay(AY) their cherished offspring.”

17 My God will reject(AZ) them
    because they have not obeyed(BA) him;
    they will be wanderers among the nations.(BB)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God