Hosea 8-10
New American Standard Bible
Israel Reaps the Whirlwind
8 (A)Put the trumpet to your [a]lips!
(B)Like an eagle the enemy comes (C)against the house of the Lord,
Because they have (D)violated My covenant
And rebelled against My (E)Law.
2 (F)They cry out to Me,
“My God, (G)we of Israel know You!”
3 Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.
4 (H)They have set up kings, but not by Me;
They have appointed officials, but I did not know it.
With their (I)silver and gold they have made idols for themselves,
So that [b]they will be eliminated.
5 [c]He has rejected your (J)calf, Samaria, saying,
“My anger burns against them!”
How long will they be incapable of (K)innocence?
6 For from Israel comes even this!
A (L)craftsman made it, so it is not God;
Assuredly, the calf of Samaria will be broken to [d]pieces.
7 For (M)they sow wind
And they harvest a (N)storm.
The standing grain has no [e]kernels;
It yields (O)no [f]grain.
If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it.
8 Israel has been (P)swallowed up;
They are now among the nations
Like a (Q)vessel in which no one delights.
9 For they have gone up to (R)Assyria,
Like (S)a wild donkey all alone;
Ephraim has (T)paid fees for [g]lovers.
10 Even though they [h]pay for allies among the nations,
I will (U)gather them up now;
And they will begin (V)to diminish
Because of the burden of the (W)king of officials.
11 Since Ephraim has (X)multiplied altars for sin,
They have become altars of sinning for him.
12 Though (Y)I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My (Z)Law,
They are regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for My (AA)sacrificial gifts,
They (AB)sacrifice the flesh and eat it,
But the Lord has taken no delight in them.
Now He will (AC)remember their guilt,
And (AD)punish them for their sins;
They will return to (AE)Egypt.
14 For Israel has (AF)forgotten his Maker and (AG)built palaces;
And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
But I will send a (AH)fire on its cities, and it will consume its palatial buildings.
Ephraim Punished
9 (AI)Do not rejoice, Israel, [i]with jubilation like the [j]nations!
For you have (AJ)been unfaithful, [k]abandoning your God.
You have loved the earnings of unfaithfulness on [l]every threshing floor.
2 Threshing floor and wine press will (AK)not feed them,
And the new wine will fail [m]them.
3 They will not remain in (AL)the Lord’s land,
But Ephraim will return to (AM)Egypt,
And in (AN)Assyria they will eat (AO)unclean food.
4 They will not pour out drink offerings of (AP)wine to the Lord,
(AQ)Nor will [n]their sacrifices please Him.
Their bread will be to them like [o]mourners’ bread;
All who eat it will be (AR)defiled,
Because their bread will be for [p]themselves alone;
It will not enter the house of the Lord.
5 (AS)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival
And on the day of the (AT)feast of the Lord?
6 For behold, they will be gone because of destruction;
Egypt will gather them together, (AU)Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will take possession of their treasures of silver;
(AV)Thorns will be in their tents.
7 The days of (AW)punishment have come,
The days of (AX)retribution have come;
[q]Let Israel know this!
The prophet is a (AY)fool,
The [r]inspired person is (AZ)insane,
Because of the grossness of your (BA)wrongdoing,
And because your [s]hostility is so great.
8 Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a prophet;
Yet the snare of a bird catcher is in all his ways,
And there is only [t]hostility in the house of his God.
9 They are (BB)deeply depraved
As in the days of (BC)Gibeah;
He will (BD)remember their guilt,
He will punish their sins.
10 I found Israel like (BE)grapes in the wilderness;
I saw your forefathers as the (BF)earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season.
But they came to (BG)Baal-peor and devoted themselves to [u](BH)shame,
And they became as (BI)detestable as that which they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their (BJ)glory will fly away like a bird—
No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
12 Though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them of their children [v]until not a person is left.
Yes, (BK)woe to them indeed when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I have seen,
Is planted in a pasture like (BL)Tyre;
But Ephraim is going to bring out his children for slaughter.
14 Give to them, Lord—what will You give?
Give them a (BM)miscarrying womb and dried-up breasts.
15 All their evil is at (BN)Gilgal;
Indeed, I came to hate them there!
Because of the (BO)wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of My house!
I will no longer love them;
All their leaders are (BP)rebels.
16 (BQ)Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up,
They will produce (BR)no fruit.
Even though they give birth to children,
I will put to death the (BS)precious ones of their womb.
17 My God will reject them
Because they have (BT)not listened to Him;
And they will be (BU)wanderers among the nations.
Retribution for Israel’s Sin
10 Israel is a luxuriant (BV)vine;
He produces fruit for himself.
The more his fruit,
The more altars he (BW)made;
The [w]richer his land,
The better [x]he made the (BX)memorial stones.
2 Their heart is [y](BY)deceitful;
Now they must suffer for their (BZ)guilt.
[z]The Lord will (CA)break down their altars
And destroy their memorial stones.
3 Certainly now they will say, “We have (CB)no king,
For we do not revere the Lord.
As for the king, what can he do for us?”
4 They speak mere words,
[aa]With (CC)worthless oaths they make covenants;
And (CD)judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria will fear
For the [ab](CE)calf of (CF)Beth-aven.
Indeed, its people will mourn for it,
And its (CG)idolatrous priests [ac]will cry out over it,
Over its (CH)glory, since it has left it.
6 The thing itself will be brought to (CI)Assyria
As a gift of tribute to [ad](CJ)King Jareb;
Ephraim will [ae]be (CK)seized with shame,
And Israel will be ashamed of its (CL)own plan.
7 Samaria will be (CM)destroyed with her king,
Like a twig on the surface of the water.
8 Also the (CN)high places of Aven, the (CO)sin of Israel, will be destroyed;
(CP)Thorns and thistles will grow on their altars;
Then they will (CQ)say to the mountains,
“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, Israel;
There they stand!
Will the battle against the sons of injustice not overtake them in Gibeah?
10 When it is My (CR)desire, I will [af](CS)discipline them;
And (CT)the peoples will be gathered against them
When they are bound for their double guilt.
11 Ephraim is a trained (CU)heifer that loves to thresh,
[ag]And I (CV)passed over her lovely neck;
I will harness Ephraim,
Judah will plow, Jacob will [ah]harrow for himself.
12 (CW)Sow for yourselves, with a view to righteousness;
Harvest in accordance with [ai]kindness.
(CX)Break up your uncultivated ground,
For it is time to (CY)seek the Lord
Until He (CZ)comes and (DA)rains righteousness on you.
13 You have (DB)plowed wickedness, you have harvested injustice,
You have eaten the fruit of (DC)lies.
Because you have trusted in your way, in your (DD)many warriors,
14 An uproar will arise among your people,
And all your (DE)fortresses will be destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
When (DF)mothers were [aj]slaughtered with their children.
15 So it will be done to you at Bethel because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
Footnotes
- Hosea 8:1 Lit palate
- Hosea 8:4 Lit he
- Hosea 8:5 Or Your calf has rejected you
- Hosea 8:6 Or splinters
- Hosea 8:7 Lit growth
- Hosea 8:7 Or meal
- Hosea 8:9 Lit love gifts
- Hosea 8:10 Or recruit allies
- Hosea 9:1 Lit to
- Hosea 9:1 Lit peoples
- Hosea 9:1 Lit away from your God
- Hosea 9:1 Lit all threshing floors of grain
- Hosea 9:2 Lit her
- Hosea 9:4 Or they offer to Him their
- Hosea 9:4 Lit bread of mourning
- Hosea 9:4 Lit their soul
- Hosea 9:7 Or Israel will know this
- Hosea 9:7 Lit man of the spirit
- Hosea 9:7 Or persecution
- Hosea 9:8 Or persecution
- Hosea 9:10 I.e., Baal
- Hosea 9:12 Lit without a person
- Hosea 10:1 Lit better
- Hosea 10:1 Lit they
- Hosea 10:2 Lit slippery; or divided
- Hosea 10:2 Lit He
- Hosea 10:4 Or Swearing falsely in making a covenant
- Hosea 10:5 As in some ancient versions; MT calves
- Hosea 10:5 Or who used to rejoice over
- Hosea 10:6 Another reading is the great king; or the contentious king
- Hosea 10:6 Lit receive shame
- Hosea 10:10 Or instruct
- Hosea 10:11 Or But I put a yoke on her lovely
- Hosea 10:11 I.e., pull a harrow, a farming device
- Hosea 10:12 Or loyalty
- Hosea 10:14 Lit shattered
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