Hosea 9:10-11:12

English Standard Version

¹⁰ Like grapes in the wilderness,
    ^(A)I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
    in its first season,
    I saw your fathers.
But ^(B)they came to Baal-peor
    and ^(C)consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
    and ^(D)became detestable like the thing they loved.
¹¹ Ephraim's ^(E)glory shall fly away like a bird—
    ^(F)no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
^12 (G)Even if they bring up children,
    I will bereave them till none is left.
^(H)Woe to them
    when ^(I)I depart from them!
¹³ Ephraim, ^(J)as I have seen, was like a young palm^[a] planted in a meadow;
    but ^(K)Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.^[b]
14 Give them, O Lord—
    what will you give?
Give them ^(L)a miscarrying womb
    and dry breasts.

¹⁵ Every evil of theirs is in ^(M)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 ^(N)their princes are ^(O)rebels.

¹⁶ Ephraim is stricken;
    ^(P)their root is dried up;
    they shall bear no fruit.
Even ^(Q)though they give birth,
    ^(R)I will put their beloved children to death.
^17 (S)My God will reject them
    because they have not listened to him;
    ^(T)they shall be wanderers among the nations.

10 ^(U)Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
    ^(V)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^[c] will break down their altars
    and destroy their pillars.

³ For now they will say:
    ^(W)“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
⁴ They utter ^(X)mere words;
    with empty^[d] oaths they make covenants;
so ^(Y)judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    ^(Z)in the furrows of the field.
⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
    for ^(AA)the calf^[e] of ^(AB)Beth-aven.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
    those who rejoiced over it and ^(AC)over its glory—
    for it has departed^[f] from them.
^6 (AD)The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
    as tribute to ^(AE)the great king.^[g]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed ^(AF)of his idol.^[h]

^7 (AG)Samaria's king shall perish
    like a twig on the face of the waters.
⁸ The high places of ^(AH)Aven, ^(AI)the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
^(AJ)Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
and ^(AK)they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

⁹ From ^(AL)the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not the war against the unjust^[i] overtake them in Gibeah?
^10 (AM)When I please, ^(AN)I will discipline them,
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are bound up for ^(AO)their double iniquity.

¹¹ Ephraim was a trained calf
    that ^(AP)loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put ^(AQ)Ephraim to the yoke;
    ^(AR)Judah must plow;
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
^12 (AS)Sow for yourselves righteousness;
    reap steadfast love;
    ^(AT)break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
    that he may come and ^(AU)rain righteousness upon you.

^13 (AV)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 ^(AW)the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as ^(AX)Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
    ^(AY)mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
¹⁵ Thus it shall be done to you, O ^(AZ)Bethel,
    because of your great evil.
At dawn ^(BA)the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.

³ Yet it was ^(BH)I who taught Ephraim to walk;
    I took them up by their arms,
    but they did not know that ^(BI)I healed them.
^4 (BJ)I led them with cords of kindness,^[j]
    with the bands of love,
and ^(BK)I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
    and ^(BL)I bent down to them and fed them.

^5 (BM)They shall not^[k] return to the land of Egypt,
    but ^(BN)Assyria shall be their king,
    ^(BO)because ^(BP)they have refused to return to me.
^6 (BQ)The sword shall rage against their cities,
    consume the bars of their gates,
    and devour them ^(BR)because of their own counsels.
⁷ My people are bent ^(BS)on turning away from me,
    and though ^(BT)they call out to the Most High,
    he shall not raise them up at all.

⁸ How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
^(BU)How can I make you ^(BV)like Admah?
    How can I treat you ^(BW)like Zeboiim?
^(BX)My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
⁹ I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
^(BY)for I am God and not a man,
    ^(BZ)the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.^[l]

^10 (CA)They shall go after the Lord;
    ^(CB)he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
    his children shall come trembling ^(CC)from the west;
¹¹ they shall come trembling like birds ^(CD)from Egypt,
    and ^(CE)like doves ^(CF)from the land of Assyria,
    and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
^12 [m] Ephraim ^(CG)has surrounded me with lies,
    and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.