Hosea 7-9
New International Version
7 1 whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(A)
They practice deceit,(B)
thieves break into houses,(C)
bandits rob in the streets;(D)
2 but they do not realize
that I remember(E) all their evil deeds.(F)
Their sins engulf them;(G)
they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.(H)
4 They are all adulterers,(I)
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,(J)
and he joins hands with the mockers.(K)
6 Their hearts are like an oven;(L)
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(M)
and none of them calls(N) on me.
8 “Ephraim mixes(O) with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,(P)
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(Q)
but despite all this
he does not return(R) to the Lord his God
or search(S) for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(T)
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(U)
now turning to Assyria.(V)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(W) over them;
I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
13 Woe(X) to them,
because they have strayed(Y) from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me(Z) falsely.(AA)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(AB)
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[a] appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,(AC)
but they turn away from me.(AD)
15 I trained(AE) them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil(AF) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(AG)
they are like a faulty bow.(AH)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent(AI) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(AJ)
in the land of Egypt.(AK)
Israel to Reap the Whirlwind
8 “Put the trumpet(AL) to your lips!
An eagle(AM) is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant(AN)
and rebelled against my law.(AO)
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.(AP)
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.(AQ)
With their silver and gold
they make idols(AR) for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!(AS)
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?(AT)
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.(AU)
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf(AV) of Samaria.(AW)
7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.(AX)
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.(AY)
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.(AZ)
8 Israel is swallowed up;(BA)
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.(BB)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria(BC)
like a wild donkey(BD) wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.(BE)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.(BF)
They will begin to waste away(BG)
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.(BH)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.(BI)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat(BJ) the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.(BK)
Now he will remember(BL) their wickedness
and punish their sins:(BM)
They will return to Egypt.(BN)
14 Israel has forgotten(BO) their Maker(BP)
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”(BQ)
Punishment for Israel
9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilant(BR) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful(BS) to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitute(BT)
at every threshing floor.
2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine(BU) will fail them.
3 They will not remain(BV) in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt(BW)
and eat unclean food in Assyria.(BX)
4 They will not pour out wine offerings(BY) to the Lord,
nor will their sacrifices please(BZ) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;(CA)
all who eat them will be unclean.(CB)
This food will be for themselves;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.(CC)
5 What will you do(CD) on the day of your appointed festivals,(CE)
on the feast days of the Lord?
6 Even if they escape from destruction,
Egypt will gather them,(CF)
and Memphis(CG) will bury them.(CH)
Their treasures of silver(CI) will be taken over by briers,
and thorns(CJ) will overrun their tents.
7 The days of punishment(CK) are coming,
the days of reckoning(CL) are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sins(CM) are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,(CN)
the inspired person a maniac.(CO)
8 The prophet, along with my God,
is the watchman over Ephraim,[b]
yet snares(CP) await him on all his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.(CQ)
9 They have sunk deep into corruption,(CR)
as in the days of Gibeah.(CS)
God will remember(CT) their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.(CU)
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(CV) on the fig(CW) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,(CX)
they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol(CY)
and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory(CZ) will fly away like a bird(DA)—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(DB)
12 Even if they rear children,
I will bereave(DC) them of every one.
Woe(DD) to them
when I turn away from them!(DE)
13 I have seen Ephraim,(DF) like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place.(DG)
But Ephraim will bring out
their children to the slayer.”(DH)
14 Give them, Lord—
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that are dry.(DI)
15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,(DJ)
I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,(DK)
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;(DL)
all their leaders are rebellious.(DM)
16 Ephraim(DN) is blighted,
their root is withered,
they yield no fruit.(DO)
Even if they bear children,
I will slay(DP) their cherished offspring.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together
- Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God
Proverbs 20:21-30
New International Version
21 An inheritance claimed too soon
will not be blessed at the end.
23 The Lord detests differing weights,
and dishonest scales do not please him.(C)
24 A person’s steps are directed(D) by the Lord.(E)
How then can anyone understand their own way?(F)
25 It is a trap to dedicate something rashly
and only later to consider one’s vows.(G)
26 A wise king winnows out the wicked;
he drives the threshing wheel over them.(H)
29 The glory of young men is their strength,
gray hair the splendor of the old.(M)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:27 Or A person’s words are
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