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Hosea 9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Hosea 9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Punishment for Israel’s Sin
9 Do not rejoice, O Israel!
Do not exult[a] as other nations do,
for you have prostituted yourself, departing from your God.
You have loved a prostitute’s pay
on all threshing floors.(A)
2 Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and the new wine shall fail them.(B)
3 They shall not remain in the land of the Lord,
but Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
and in Assyria they shall eat unclean food.(C)
4 They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
and their sacrifices shall not please him.
Such sacrifices shall be like mourners’ bread;
all who eat of it shall be defiled,
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
it shall not come to the house of the Lord.(D)
5 What will you do on the day of appointed festival
and on the day of the festival of the Lord?(E)
6 For even if they escape destruction,
Egypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver;[b]
thorns shall be in their tents.(F)
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come.
Israel will cry out,[c]
“The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad!”
Because of your great iniquity,
your hostility is great.(G)
8 The prophet is a sentinel for my God over Ephraim,
yet a hunter’s snare is on all his ways
and hostility in the house of his God.(H)
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah;
he will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.(I)
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree,
in its first season,
I saw your ancestors.
But they came to Baal-peor
and consecrated themselves to a thing of shame
and became detestable like the thing they loved.(J)
11 Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!(K)
12 Even if they bring up children,
I will bereave them until no one is left.
Woe to them indeed
when I depart from them!(L)
13 Once I saw Ephraim as a young palm planted in a lovely meadow,[d]
but now Ephraim must lead out his children for slaughter.(M)
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal;
there I came to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all their officials are rebels.(N)
Hosea 9
The Message
Hosea 9
The Message
Starved for God
9 1-6 Don’t waste your life in wild orgies, Israel.
Don’t party away your life with the heathen.
You walk away from your God at the drop of a hat
and like a whore sell yourself promiscuously
at every sex-and-religion party on the street.
All that party food won’t fill you up.
You’ll end up hungrier than ever.
At this rate you’ll not last long in God’s land:
Some of you are going to end up bankrupt in Egypt.
Some of you will be disillusioned in Assyria.
As refugees in Egypt and Assyria,
you won’t have much chance to worship God—
Sentenced to rations of bread and water,
and your souls polluted by the spirit-dirty air.
You’ll be starved for God,
exiled from God’s own country.
Will you be homesick for the old Holy Days?
Will you miss festival worship of God?
Be warned! When you escape from the frying pan of disaster,
you’ll fall into the fire of Egypt.
Egypt will give you a fine funeral!
What use will all your god-inspired silver be then
as you eke out a living in a field of weeds?
* * *
7-9 Time’s up. Doom’s at the doorstep.
It’s payday!
Did Israel bluster, “The prophet is crazy!
The ‘man of the Spirit’ is nuts!”?
Think again. Because of your great guilt,
you’re in big trouble.
The prophet is looking out for Ephraim,
working under God’s orders.
But everyone is trying to trip him up.
He’s hated right in God’s house, of all places.
The people are going from bad to worse,
rivaling that ancient and unspeakable crime at Gibeah.
God’s keeping track of their guilt.
He’ll make them pay for their sins.
They Took to Sin Like a Pig to Filth
10-13 “Long ago when I came upon Israel,
it was like finding grapes out in the desert.
When I found your ancestors, it was like finding
a fig tree bearing fruit for the first time.
But when they arrived at Baal-peor, that pagan shrine,
they took to sin like a pig to filth,
wallowing in the mud with their newfound friends.
Ephraim is fickle and scattered, like a flock of blackbirds,
their beauty dissipated in confusion and clamor,
Frenetic and noisy, frigid and barren,
and nothing to show for it—neither conception nor childbirth.
Even if they did give birth, I’d declare them
unfit parents and take away their children!
Yes indeed—a black day for them
when I turn my back and walk off!
I see Ephraim letting his children run wild.
He might just as well take them and kill them outright!”
14 Give it to them, God! But what?
Give them a dried-up womb and shriveled breasts.
15-16 “All their evil came out into the open
at the pagan shrine at Gilgal. Oh, how I hated them there!
Because of their evil practices,
I’ll kick them off my land.
I’m wasting no more love on them.
Their leaders are a bunch of rebellious adolescents.
Ephraim is hit hard—
roots withered, no more fruit.
Even if by some miracle they had children,
the dear babies wouldn’t live—I’d make sure of that!”
17 My God has washed his hands of them.
They wouldn’t listen.
They’re doomed to be wanderers,
vagabonds among the godless nations.
Hosea 9
New International Version
Hosea 9
New International Version
Punishment for Israel
9 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.
2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine(D) will fail them.
3 They will not remain(E) in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt(F)
and eat unclean food in Assyria.(G)
4 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)
5 What will you do(M) on the day of your appointed festivals,(N)
on the feast days of the Lord?
6 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.
7 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)
8 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)
9 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.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.