Hosea 7-10
New Living Translation
Israel’s Love for Wickedness
7 “I want to heal Israel, but its[a] sins are too great.
Samaria is filled with liars.
Thieves are on the inside
and bandits on the outside!
2 Its people don’t realize
that I am watching them.
Their sinful deeds are all around them,
and I see them all.
3 “The people entertain the king with their wickedness,
and the princes laugh at their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
always aflame with lust.
They are like an oven that is kept hot
while the baker is kneading the dough.
5 On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine,
carousing with those who mock them.
6 Their hearts are like an oven
blazing with intrigue.
Their plot smolders[b] through the night,
and in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire.
7 Burning like an oven,
they consume their leaders.
They kill their kings one after another,
and no one cries to me for help.
8 “The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners,
making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake!
9 Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength,
but they don’t even know it.
Their hair is gray,
but they don’t realize they’re old and weak.
10 Their arrogance testifies against them,
yet they don’t return to the Lord their God
or even try to find him.
11 “The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves,
first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria for help.
12 But as they fly about,
I will throw my net over them
and bring them down like a bird from the sky.
I will punish them for all the evil they do.[c]
13 “What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me!
Let them die, for they have rebelled against me.
I wanted to redeem them,
but they have told lies about me.
14 They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts.
Instead, they sit on their couches and wail.
They cut themselves,[d] begging foreign gods for grain and new wine,
and they turn away from me.
15 I trained them and made them strong,
yet now they plot evil against me.
16 They look everywhere except to the Most High.
They are as useless as a crooked bow.
Their leaders will be killed by their enemies
because of their insolence toward me.
Then the people of Egypt
will laugh at them.
Israel Harvests the Whirlwind
8 “Sound the alarm!
The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the Lord,
for they have broken my covenant
and revolted against my law.
2 Now Israel pleads with me,
‘Help us, for you are our God!’
3 But it is too late.
The people of Israel have rejected what is good,
and now their enemies will chase after them.
4 The people have appointed kings without my consent,
and princes without my approval.
By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold,
they have brought about their own destruction.
5 “O Samaria, I reject this calf—
this idol you have made.
My fury burns against you.
How long will you be incapable of innocence?
6 This calf you worship, O Israel,
was crafted by your own hands!
It is not God!
Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.
7 “They have planted the wind
and will harvest the whirlwind.
The stalks of grain wither
and produce nothing to eat.
And even if there is any grain,
foreigners will eat it.
8 The people of Israel have been swallowed up;
they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.
9 Like a wild donkey looking for a mate,
they have gone up to Assyria.
The people of Israel[e] have sold themselves—
sold themselves to many lovers.
10 But though they have sold themselves to many allies,
I will now gather them together for judgment.
Then they will writhe
under the burden of the great king.
11 “Israel has built many altars to take away sin,
but these very altars became places for sinning!
12 Even though I gave them all my laws,
they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.
13 The people love to offer sacrifices to me,
feasting on the meat,
but I do not accept their sacrifices.
I will hold my people accountable for their sins,
and I will punish them.
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces,
and Judah has fortified its cities.
Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities
and will burn up their fortresses.”
Hosea Announces Israel’s Punishment
9 O people of Israel,
do not rejoice as other nations do.
For you have been unfaithful to your God,
hiring yourselves out like prostitutes,
worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.
2 So now your harvests will be too small to feed you.
There will be no grapes for making new wine.
3 You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land.
Instead, you will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria you will eat food
that is ceremonially unclean.
4 There you will make no offerings of wine to the Lord.
None of your sacrifices there will please him.
They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning.
All who present such sacrifices will be defiled.
They may eat this food themselves,
but they may not offer it to the Lord.
5 What then will you do on festival days?
How will you observe the Lord’s festivals?
6 Even if you escape destruction from Assyria,
Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis[f] will bury you.
Nettles will take over your treasures of silver;
thistles will invade your ruined homes.
7 The time of Israel’s punishment has come;
the day of payment is here.
Soon Israel will know this all too well.
Because of your great sin and hostility,
you say, “The prophets are crazy
and the inspired men are fools!”
8 The prophet is a watchman over Israel[g] for my God,
yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes.
He faces hostility even in the house of God.
9 The things my people do are as depraved
as what they did in Gibeah long ago.
God will not forget.
He will surely punish them for their sins.
10 The Lord says, “O Israel, when I first found you,
it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert.
When I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season.
But then they deserted me for Baal-peor,
giving themselves to that shameful idol.
Soon they became vile,
as vile as the god they worshiped.
11 The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird,
for your children will not be born
or grow in the womb
or even be conceived.
12 Even if you do have children who grow up,
I will take them from you.
It will be a terrible day when I turn away
and leave you alone.
13 I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre.
But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.”
14 O Lord, what should I request for your people?
I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth
and breasts that give no milk.
15 The Lord says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
because of their evil actions.
I will love them no more
because all their leaders are rebels.
16 The people of Israel are struck down.
Their roots are dried up,
and they will bear no more fruit.
And if they give birth,
I will slaughter their beloved children.”
17 My God will reject the people of Israel
because they will not listen or obey.
They will be wanderers,
homeless among the nations.
The Lord’s Judgment against Israel
10 How prosperous Israel is—
a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit.
But the richer the people get,
the more pagan altars they build.
The more bountiful their harvests,
the more beautiful their sacred pillars.
2 The hearts of the people are fickle;
they are guilty and must be punished.
The Lord will break down their altars
and smash their sacred pillars.
3 Then they will say, “We have no king
because we didn’t fear the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us anyway?”
4 They spout empty words
and make covenants they don’t intend to keep.
So injustice springs up among them
like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.
5 The people of Samaria tremble in fear
for their calf idol at Beth-aven,[h]
and they mourn for it.
Though its priests rejoice over it,
its glory will be stripped away.[i]
6 This idol will be carted away to Assyria,
a gift to the great king there.
Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed,
because its people have trusted in this idol.
7 Samaria and its king will be cut off;
they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave.
8 And the pagan shrines of Aven,[j] the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble.
Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars.
They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!”
and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 The Lord says, “O Israel, ever since Gibeah,
there has been only sin and more sin!
You have made no progress whatsoever.
Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked?
10 Now whenever it fits my plan,
I will attack you, too.
I will call out the armies of the nations
to punish you for your multiplied sins.
11 “Israel[k] is like a trained heifer treading out the grain—
an easy job she loves.
But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck.
I will force Judah to pull the plow
and Israel[l] to break up the hard ground.
12 I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,
and you will harvest a crop of love.
Plow up the hard ground of your hearts,
for now is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come
and shower righteousness upon you.’
13 “But you have cultivated wickedness
and harvested a thriving crop of sins.
You have eaten the fruit of lies—
trusting in your military might,
believing that great armies
could make your nation safe.
14 Now the terrors of war
will rise among your people.
All your fortifications will fall,
just as when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel.
Even mothers and children
were dashed to death there.
15 You will share that fate, Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
When the day of judgment dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
Notas al pie
- 7:1 Hebrew Ephraim’s, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; similarly in 7:8, 11.
- 7:6 Hebrew Their baker sleeps.
- 7:12 Hebrew I will punish them because of what was reported against them in the assembly.
- 7:14 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads They gather together.
- 8:9 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 8:11.
- 9:6 Memphis was the capital of northern Egypt.
- 9:8 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 9:11, 13, 16.
- 10:5a Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
- 10:5b Or will be taken away into exile.
- 10:8 Aven is a reference to Beth-aven; see 10:5a and the note there.
- 10:11a Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
- 10:11b Hebrew Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
Hosea 7-10
English Standard Version
7 (A)when I would heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
and the evil deeds of (B)Samaria,
for (C)they deal falsely;
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid outside.
2 But they do not consider
that (D)I remember all their evil.
Now (E)their deeds surround them;
(F)they are before my face.
3 By their evil (G)they make (H)the king glad,
and the princes by their treachery.
4 (I)They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
from the kneading of the dough
until it is leavened.
5 On the day of (J)our king, the princes
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6 For with hearts like an oven (K)they approach their intrigue;
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 (L)their kings (M)have fallen,
and none of them calls upon me.
8 Ephraim (N)mixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 (O)Strangers devour his strength,
and (P)he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and (Q)he knows it not.
10 (R)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;[a]
(S)yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek him, for all this.
11 Ephraim is like a dove,
(T)silly and without sense,
calling to (U)Egypt, going to (V)Assyria.
12 As they go, (W)I will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
(X)I will discipline them (Y)according to the report made to their congregation.
13 (Z)Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
(AA)I would redeem them,
but (AB)they speak lies against me.
14 (AC)They do not cry to me from the heart,
but (AD)they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
15 Although (AE)I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16 They (AF)return, but not upward;[b]
they are (AG)like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of (AH)the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision (AI)in the land of Egypt.
Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind
8 Set (AJ)the trumpet to your lips!
One (AK)like a vulture is over the house of the Lord,
because (AL)they have transgressed my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 To me they cry,
(AM)“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.
4 (AN)They made kings, (AO)but not through me.
They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.
5 (AP)I have[c] spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
(AQ)How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
it is not God.
(AR)The calf of Samaria
(AS)shall be broken to pieces.[d]
7 For (AT)they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
(AU)strangers would devour it.
8 (AV)Israel is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as (AW)a useless vessel.
9 For (AX)they have gone up to Assyria,
(AY)a wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And (AZ)the king and princes (BA)shall soon writhe
because of the tribute.
11 Because Ephraim (BB)has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 (BC)Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
(BD)they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord does not accept them.
(BE)Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
(BF)they shall return to Egypt.
14 For (BG)Israel has forgotten (BH)his Maker
and (BI)built palaces,
and (BJ)Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
so (BK)I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
The Lord Will Punish Israel
9 Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not like the peoples;
(BL)for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
(BM)You have loved a prostitute's wages
on all threshing floors.
2 (BN)Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and (BO)the new wine shall fail them.
3 They shall not remain in (BP)the land of the Lord,
but (BQ)Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
and (BR)they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 (BS)They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
(BT)and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like (BU)mourners' bread to them;
all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
(BV)it shall not come to the house of the Lord.
5 (BW)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For behold, they are going away from destruction;
but (BX)Egypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess (BY)their precious things of silver;
(BZ)thorns shall be in their tents.
7 (CA)The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
(CB)The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
and great hatred.
8 The prophet is (CC)the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet (CD)a fowler's snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 (CE)They have deeply corrupted themselves
as (CF)in the days of Gibeah:
(CG)he will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
(CH)I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But (CI)they came to Baal-peor
and (CJ)consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and (CK)became detestable like the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim's (CL)glory shall fly away like a bird—
(CM)no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 (CN)Even if they bring up children,
I will bereave them till none is left.
(CO)Woe to them
when (CP)I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, (CQ)as I have seen, was like a young palm[e] planted in a meadow;
but (CR)Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.[f]
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will you give?
Give them (CS)a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs is in (CT)Gilgal;
there I began 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 (CU)their princes are (CV)rebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken;
(CW)their root is dried up;
they shall bear no fruit.
Even (CX)though they give birth,
(CY)I will put their beloved children to death.
17 (CZ)My God will reject them
because they have not listened to him;
(DA)they shall be wanderers among the nations.
10 (DB)Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
(DC)the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.
2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord[g] will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.
3 For now they will say:
(DD)“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
and a king—what could he do for us?”
4 They utter (DE)mere words;
with empty[h] oaths they make covenants;
so (DF)judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
(DG)in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
for (DH)the calf[i] of (DI)Beth-aven.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
those who rejoiced over it and (DJ)over its glory—
for it has departed[j] from them.
6 (DK)The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
as tribute to (DL)the great king.[k]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed (DM)of his idol.[l]
7 (DN)Samaria's king shall perish
like a twig on the face of the waters.
8 The high places of (DO)Aven, (DP)the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
(DQ)Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars,
and (DR)they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
9 From (DS)the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not the war against the unjust[m] overtake them in Gibeah?
10 (DT)When I please, (DU)I will discipline them,
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are bound up for (DV)their double iniquity.
11 Ephraim was a trained calf
that (DW)loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put (DX)Ephraim to the yoke;
(DY)Judah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.
12 (DZ)Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
(EA)break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and (EB)rain righteousness upon you.
13 (EC)You have plowed iniquity;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
and in the multitude of your warriors,
14 therefore (ED)the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as (EE)Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
(EF)mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O (EG)Bethel,
because of your great evil.
At dawn (EH)the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.
Notas al pie
- Hosea 7:10 Or in his presence
- Hosea 7:16 Or to the Most High
- Hosea 8:5 Hebrew He has
- Hosea 8:6 Or shall go up in flames
- Hosea 9:13 Or like Tyre
- Hosea 9:13 Hebrew to him who slaughters
- Hosea 10:2 Hebrew He
- Hosea 10:4 Or vain (see Exodus 20:7)
- Hosea 10:5 Or calves
- Hosea 10:5 Or has gone into exile
- Hosea 10:6 Or to King Jareb
- Hosea 10:6 Or counsel
- Hosea 10:9 Hebrew the children of injustice
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
