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Hosea 4-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Hosea 4-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God Accuses Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel,
for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or loyalty
and no knowledge of God in the land.(A)
2 Swearing, lying, and murder,
and stealing and adultery break out;
bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who live in it languish;
together with the wild animals
and the birds of the air,
even the fish of the sea are perishing.(B)
4 Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.[a](C)
5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night,
and I will destroy your mother.(D)
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge!
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me;
and since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.(E)
7 The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
they changed[b] their glory into shame.(F)
8 They feed on the sin of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.(G)
10 They shall eat but not be satisfied;
they shall prostitute themselves but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to devote themselves to(H) 11 prostitution.
The Idolatry of Israel
Wine and new wine
take away the understanding.(I)
12 My people consult a piece of wood,
and their divining rod gives them oracles.
For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray,
and they have prostituted themselves, forsaking their God.(J)
13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and make offerings upon the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters prostitute themselves,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.(K)
14 I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves
nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery,
for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with female attendants;
thus a people without understanding comes to ruin.(L)
15 Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel,
do not let Judah become guilty.
Do not enter into Gilgal
or go up to Beth-aven,
and do not swear, “As the Lord lives.”(M)
16 Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?(N)
17 Ephraim is joined to idols—
let him alone.
18 When their drinking is ended, they indulge in sexual orgies;
they love lewdness more than their glory.[c](O)
19 A wind has wrapped them[d] in its wings,
and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.[e](P)
Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah
5 Hear this, O priests!
Give heed, O house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
For the judgment pertains to you,
for you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread upon Tabor(Q)
2 and a pit dug deep in Shittim,[f]
but I will punish all of them.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me,
for now, O Ephraim, you have prostituted yourself;
Israel is defiled.(R)
4 Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
For the spirit of prostitution is within them,
and they do not know the Lord.(S)
5 Israel’s pride testifies against him;
Ephraim[g] stumbles in his guilt;
Judah also stumbles with them.(T)
6 With their flocks and herds they shall go
to seek the Lord,
but they will not find him;
he has withdrawn from them.(U)
7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord,
for they have borne illegitimate children.
Now the new moon shall devour them along with their fields.(V)
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
look behind you, Benjamin!(W)
9 Ephraim shall become a desolation
in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
I declare what is sure.(X)
10 The princes of Judah have become
like those who remove the landmark;
on them I will pour out
my wrath like water.(Y)
11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after vanity.[h]
12 Therefore I am like maggots to Ephraim
and like rottenness to the house of Judah.(Z)
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria
and sent to the great king.[i]
But he is not able to cure you
or heal your wound.(AA)
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I myself will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.(AB)
15 I will return again to my place
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.
In their distress they will beg my favor:(AC)
A Call to Repentance
6 “Come, let us return to the Lord,
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.(AD)
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”(AE)
Impenitence of Israel and Judah
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.(AF)
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my[j] judgment goes forth as the light.(AG)
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.(AH)
7 But at[k] Adam they transgressed the covenant;
there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait[l] for someone,
so the priests are banded together;[m]
they murder on the road to Shechem;
they commit a monstrous crime.(AI)
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
Ephraim’s prostitution is there; Israel is defiled.(AJ)
11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.
When I would restore the fortunes of my people,(AK)
7
the corruption of Ephraim is revealed,
and the wicked deeds of Samaria,
for they deal falsely;
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid outside.(AL)
2 But they do not consider
that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds surround them;
they are before my face.(AM)
3 By their wickedness they make the king glad,
and the officials by their treachery.
4 They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven
whose baker does not need to stir the fire
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.(AN)
5 On the day of our king the officials
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.(AO)
6 For they are kindled[n] like an oven; their heart burns within them;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
none of them calls upon me.(AP)
8 Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 Foreigners devour his strength,
but he does not know it;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
but he does not know it.(AQ)
10 Israel’s pride testifies against[o] him;
yet they do not return to the Lord their God
or seek him, for all this.(AR)
Futile Reliance on the Nations
11 Ephraim has become like a dove,
silly and without sense;
they call upon Egypt, they go to Assyria.(AS)
12 As they go, I will cast my net over them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will discipline them according to the report made to their assembly.[p](AT)
13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.(AU)
14 They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
they gash themselves for grain and wine;
they rebel against me.(AV)
15 It was I who trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they plot evil against me.(AW)
16 They turn to that which does not profit;[q]
they have become like a defective bow;
their officials shall fall by the sword
because of the rage of their tongue.
So much for their babbling in the land of Egypt.(AX)
Israel’s Apostasy
8 Set the trumpet to your lips!
One like a vulture[r] is over the house of the Lord,
because they have broken my covenant
and transgressed my law.(AY)
2 They cry to me,
“My God, we know you!”[s](AZ)
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.
4 They made kings but not through me;
they set up princes but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.(BA)
5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?(BB)
6 For it is from Israel,
an artisan made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
shall be broken to pieces.(BC)
7 For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
foreigners would devour it.(BD)
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now they are among the nations
as a useless vessel.(BE)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild ass wandering alone;
Ephraim has bargained for lovers.(BF)
10 Though they bargain with the nations,
I will now gather them up.
They shall soon writhe
under the burden of kings and princes.(BG)
11 When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sin,
they became to him altars for sinning.
12 Though I write for him the multitude of my instructions,
they are regarded as a strange thing.(BH)
13 Though they offer choice sacrifices,[t]
though they eat flesh,
the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.(BI)
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
but I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour his strongholds.(BJ)
Punishment for Israel’s Sin
9 Do not rejoice, O Israel!
Do not exult[u] as other nations do,
for you have prostituted yourself, departing from your God.
You have loved a prostitute’s pay
on all threshing floors.(BK)
2 Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and the new wine shall fail them.(BL)
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.(BM)
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.(BN)
5 What will you do on the day of appointed festival
and on the day of the festival of the Lord?(BO)
6 For even if they escape destruction,
Egypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver;[v]
thorns shall be in their tents.(BP)
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come.
Israel will cry out,[w]
“The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad!”
Because of your great iniquity,
your hostility is great.(BQ)
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.(BR)
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah;
he will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.(BS)
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.(BT)
11 Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!(BU)
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!(BV)
13 Once I saw Ephraim as a young palm planted in a lovely meadow,[x]
but now Ephraim must lead out his children for slaughter.(BW)
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.(BX)
16 Ephraim is stricken,
their root is dried up,
they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will kill the cherished offspring of their womb.(BY)
17 Because they have not listened to him,
my God will reject them;
they shall become wanderers among the nations.(BZ)
Israel’s Sin and Captivity
10 Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.(CA)
2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord[y] will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.(CB)
3 For now they will say:
“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord,
and a king—what could he do for us?”
4 They utter mere words;
with empty oaths they make covenants;
so litigation springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the field.(CC)
5 The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
for the calf[z] of Beth-aven.
Its people shall mourn for it,
and its idolatrous priests shall wail[aa] over it,
over its glory that has departed from it.(CD)
6 The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
as tribute to the great king.[ab]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.[ac](CE)
7 Samaria’s king shall perish
like a chip on the face of the waters.(CF)
8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars.
They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”(CG)
9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah?(CH)
10 I will come[ad] against the wayward people to punish them,
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are punished[ae] for their double iniquity.(CI)
11 Ephraim was a trained heifer
that loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck,
but I will make Ephraim break the ground;
Judah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.(CJ)
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.(CK)
13 You have plowed wickedness;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your chariots,[af]
in the multitude of your warriors,(CL)
14 therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.(CM)
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.(CN)
Footnotes
- 4.4 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 4.7 Tg Syr: MT I will change
- 4.18 Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 4.19 Heb her
- 4.19 Gk Syr: Heb sacrifices
- 5.2 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 5.5 Heb Israel and Ephraim
- 5.11 Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 5.13 Cn: Heb to a king who will contend
- 6.5 Gk Syr: Heb your
- 6.7 Cn: Heb like
- 6.9 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 6.9 Syr: Heb are a company
- 7.6 Gk Syr: Heb brought near
- 7.10 Or humbles
- 7.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 7.16 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 8.1 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 8.2 Gk Syr: Heb adds Israel
- 8.13 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 9.1 Gk: Heb To exultation
- 9.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 9.7 Or will know
- 9.13 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 10.2 Heb he
- 10.5 Gk Syr: Heb calves
- 10.5 Cn: Heb exult
- 10.6 Cn: Heb to a king who will contend
- 10.6 Cn: Heb plan
- 10.10 Cn Compare Gk: Heb In my desire
- 10.10 Gk: Heb bound
- 10.13 Gk: Heb your way
Hosea 4-10
New International Version
Hosea 4-10
New International Version
The Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge(A) to bring
against you who live in the land:(B)
“There is no faithfulness,(C) no love,
no acknowledgment(D) of God in the land.(E)
2 There is only cursing,[a] lying(F) and murder,(G)
stealing(H) and adultery;(I)
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.(J)
3 Because of this the land dries up,(K)
and all who live in it waste away;(L)
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.(M)
4 “But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.(N)
5 You stumble(O) day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother(P)—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(Q)
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(R) of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God[b](S) for something disgraceful.(T)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.(U)
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.(V)
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.(W)
10 “They will eat but not have enough;(X)
they will engage in prostitution(Y) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(Z) the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(AA)
old wine(AB) and new wine
take away their understanding.(AC)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,(AD)
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.(AE)
A spirit of prostitution(AF) leads them astray;(AG)
they are unfaithful(AH) to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,(AI) poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.(AJ)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution(AK)
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.(AL)
14 “I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots(AM)
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(AN)—
a people without understanding(AO) will come to ruin!(AP)
15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;(AQ)
do not go up to Beth Aven.[c](AR)
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’(AS)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,(AT)
like a stubborn heifer.(AU)
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs(AV) in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind(AW) will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.(AX)
Judgment Against Israel
5 “Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
This judgment(AY) is against you:
You have been a snare(AZ) at Mizpah,
a net(BA) spread out on Tabor.
2 The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.(BB)
I will discipline all of them.(BC)
3 I know all about Ephraim;
Israel is not hidden(BD) from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
Israel is corrupt.(BE)
4 “Their deeds do not permit them
to return(BF) to their God.
A spirit of prostitution(BG) is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge(BH) the Lord.
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies(BI) against them;
the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble(BJ) in their sin;
Judah also stumbles with them.(BK)
6 When they go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord,(BL)
they will not find him;
he has withdrawn(BM) himself from them.
7 They are unfaithful(BN) to the Lord;
they give birth to illegitimate(BO) children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,(BP)
he will devour[d](BQ) their fields.
8 “Sound the trumpet(BR) in Gibeah,(BS)
the horn in Ramah.(BT)
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven[e];(BU)
lead on, Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will be laid waste(BV)
on the day of reckoning.(BW)
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.(BX)
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.(BY)
I will pour out my wrath(BZ) on them
like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
intent on pursuing idols.[f](CA)
12 I am like a moth(CB) to Ephraim,
like rot(CC) to the people of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim(CD) saw his sickness,
and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,(CE)
and sent to the great king for help.(CF)
But he is not able to cure(CG) you,
not able to heal your sores.(CH)
14 For I will be like a lion(CI) to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces(CJ) and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.(CK)
15 Then I will return to my lair(CL)
until they have borne their guilt(CM)
and seek my face(CN)—
in their misery(CO)
they will earnestly seek me.(CP)”
Israel Unrepentant
6 “Come, let us return(CQ) to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces(CR)
but he will heal us;(CS)
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.(CT)
2 After two days he will revive us;(CU)
on the third day(CV) he will restore(CW) us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,(CX)
like the spring rains that water the earth.(CY)”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?(CZ)
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.(DA)
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth(DB)—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[g](DC)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(DD)
and acknowledgment(DE) of God rather than burnt offerings.(DF)
7 As at Adam,[h] they have broken the covenant;(DG)
they were unfaithful(DH) to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,(DI)
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,(DJ)
so do bands of priests;
they murder(DK) on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.(DL)
10 I have seen a horrible(DM) thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.(DN)
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest(DO) is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes(DP) of my people,
7 1 whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(DQ)
They practice deceit,(DR)
thieves break into houses,(DS)
bandits rob in the streets;(DT)
2 but they do not realize
that I remember(DU) all their evil deeds.(DV)
Their sins engulf them;(DW)
they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.(DX)
4 They are all adulterers,(DY)
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,(DZ)
and he joins hands with the mockers.(EA)
6 Their hearts are like an oven;(EB)
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,(EC)
and none of them calls(ED) on me.
8 “Ephraim mixes(EE) with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,(EF)
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(EG)
but despite all this
he does not return(EH) to the Lord his God
or search(EI) for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(EJ)
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(EK)
now turning to Assyria.(EL)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(EM) 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(EN) to them,
because they have strayed(EO) from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me(EP) falsely.(EQ)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(ER)
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[i] appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,(ES)
but they turn away from me.(ET)
15 I trained(EU) them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil(EV) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(EW)
they are like a faulty bow.(EX)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent(EY) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(EZ)
in the land of Egypt.(FA)
Israel to Reap the Whirlwind
8 “Put the trumpet(FB) to your lips!
An eagle(FC) is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant(FD)
and rebelled against my law.(FE)
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.(FF)
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.(FG)
With their silver and gold
they make idols(FH) for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!(FI)
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?(FJ)
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.(FK)
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf(FL) of Samaria.(FM)
7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.(FN)
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.(FO)
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.(FP)
8 Israel is swallowed up;(FQ)
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.(FR)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria(FS)
like a wild donkey(FT) wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.(FU)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.(FV)
They will begin to waste away(FW)
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.(FX)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.(FY)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat(FZ) the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.(GA)
Now he will remember(GB) their wickedness
and punish their sins:(GC)
They will return to Egypt.(GD)
14 Israel has forgotten(GE) their Maker(GF)
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”(GG)
Punishment for Israel
9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilant(GH) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful(GI) to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitute(GJ)
at every threshing floor.
2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine(GK) will fail them.
3 They will not remain(GL) in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt(GM)
and eat unclean food in Assyria.(GN)
4 They will not pour out wine offerings(GO) to the Lord,
nor will their sacrifices please(GP) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;(GQ)
all who eat them will be unclean.(GR)
This food will be for themselves;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.(GS)
5 What will you do(GT) on the day of your appointed festivals,(GU)
on the feast days of the Lord?
6 Even if they escape from destruction,
Egypt will gather them,(GV)
and Memphis(GW) will bury them.(GX)
Their treasures of silver(GY) will be taken over by briers,
and thorns(GZ) will overrun their tents.
7 The days of punishment(HA) are coming,
the days of reckoning(HB) are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sins(HC) are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,(HD)
the inspired person a maniac.(HE)
8 The prophet, along with my God,
is the watchman over Ephraim,[j]
yet snares(HF) await him on all his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.(HG)
9 They have sunk deep into corruption,(HH)
as in the days of Gibeah.(HI)
God will remember(HJ) their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.(HK)
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(HL) on the fig(HM) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,(HN)
they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol(HO)
and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory(HP) will fly away like a bird(HQ)—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(HR)
12 Even if they rear children,
I will bereave(HS) them of every one.
Woe(HT) to them
when I turn away from them!(HU)
13 I have seen Ephraim,(HV) like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place.(HW)
But Ephraim will bring out
their children to the slayer.”(HX)
14 Give them, Lord—
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that are dry.(HY)
15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,(HZ)
I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,(IA)
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;(IB)
all their leaders are rebellious.(IC)
16 Ephraim(ID) is blighted,
their root is withered,
they yield no fruit.(IE)
Even if they bear children,
I will slay(IF) their cherished offspring.”
17 My God will reject(IG) them
because they have not obeyed(IH) him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.(II)
10 Israel was a spreading vine;(IJ)
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;(IK)
as his land prospered,(IL)
he adorned his sacred stones.(IM)
2 Their heart is deceitful,(IN)
and now they must bear their guilt.(IO)
The Lord will demolish their altars(IP)
and destroy their sacred stones.(IQ)
3 Then they will say, “We have no king
because we did not revere the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?”
4 They make many promises,
take false oaths(IR)
and make agreements;(IS)
therefore lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weeds(IT) in a plowed field.
5 The people who live in Samaria fear
for the calf-idol(IU) of Beth Aven.[k](IV)
Its people will mourn over it,
and so will its idolatrous priests,(IW)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
because it is taken from them into exile.(IX)
6 It will be carried to Assyria(IY)
as tribute(IZ) for the great king.(JA)
Ephraim will be disgraced;(JB)
Israel will be ashamed(JC) of its foreign alliances.
7 Samaria’s king will be destroyed,(JD)
swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8 The high places(JE) of wickedness[l](JF) will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns(JG) and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.(JH)
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”(JI)
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”(JJ)
9 “Since the days of Gibeah,(JK) you have sinned,(JL) Israel,
and there you have remained.[m]
Will not war again overtake
the evildoers in Gibeah?
10 When I please, I will punish(JM) them;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bonds for their double sin.
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke(JN)
on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
Judah must plow,
and Jacob must break up the ground.
12 Sow(JO) righteousness(JP) for yourselves,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;(JQ)
for it is time to seek(JR) the Lord,
until he comes
and showers his righteousness(JS) on you.
13 But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,(JT)
you have eaten the fruit of deception.(JU)
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,(JV)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastated(JW)—
as Shalman(JX) devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.(JY)
15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.(JZ)
Footnotes
- Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on
- Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory
- Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 5:7 Or Now their New Moon feasts / will devour them and
- Hosea 5:8 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings
- 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
- Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 10:8 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5.
- Hosea 10:9 Or there a stand was taken
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