Hosea 9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Coming Exile
9 Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do,(A)
for you have acted promiscuously,(B) leaving your God.
You have loved the wages of a prostitute
on every grain-threshing floor.(C)
2 Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them,(D)
and the new wine will fail them.
3 They will not stay in the land of the Lord.
Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt,(E)
and they will eat unclean food(F) in Assyria.(G)
4 They will not pour out
their wine offerings to the Lord,(H)
and their sacrifices will not please Him.
Their food will be like the bread of mourners;
all who eat it become defiled.(I)
For their bread will be for their appetites alone;
it will not enter the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on a festival day,(J)
on the day of the Lord’s feast?(K)
6 For even if they flee from devastation,
Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them.(L)
Thistles will take possession of their precious silver;
thorns will invade their tents.(M)
7 The days of punishment have come;(N)
the days of retribution have come.(O)
Let Israel recognize it!
The prophet is a fool,(P)
and the inspired man is insane,(Q)
because of the magnitude
of your guilt and hostility.(R)
8 Ephraim’s watchman is with my God.
The prophet encounters a fowler’s snare
on all his ways.(S)
Hostility is in the house of his God!
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves(T)
as in the days of Gibeah.(U)
He will remember their guilt;
He will punish their sins.(V)
Ephraim Bereaved of Offspring
10 I discovered Israel
like grapes in the wilderness.(W)
I saw your fathers
like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season.(X)
But they went to Baal-peor,(Y)
consecrated themselves to Shame,[a](Z)
and became detestable,(AA)
like the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird:(AB)
no birth, no gestation, no conception.(AC)
12 Even if they raise children,
I will bereave them of each one.
Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!(AD)
13 I have seen Ephraim like Tyre,(AE)
planted in a meadow,
so Ephraim will bring out his children
to the executioner.
14 Give them, Lord—
What should You give?
Give them a womb that miscarries
and breasts that are dry!(AF)
15 All their evil appears at Gilgal,(AG)
for there I came to hate them.
I will drive them from My house
because of their evil, wicked actions.(AH)
I will no longer love them;
all their leaders are rebellious.(AI)
16 Ephraim(AJ) is struck down;
their roots are withered;
they cannot bear fruit.(AK)
Even if they bear children,
I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.(AL)
17 My God will reject them
because they have not listened to Him;(AM)
they will become wanderers among the nations.(AN)
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:10 = Baal
Hosea 9
Modern English Version
The Punishment of Israel
9 Do not rejoice, O Israel!
Do not exult[a] like the peoples,
for you have played the whore departing from your God.
You have loved a prostitute’s wages
on every threshing floor.
2 The threshing floor and the winepress will not feed them,
and the new wine will fail in her.
3 They will not dwell in the land of the Lord;
but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and they will eat unclean things in Assyria.
4 They will not offer wine offerings to the Lord,
and their sacrifices will not please Him.
Their sacrifices will be like the bread of mourners;
all who eat of it will be defiled.
For their bread will be only to satisfy their own hunger;
it will not come into the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the appointed day,
and on the day of the festival of the Lord?
6 For indeed they are gone because of destruction.
Egypt will gather them,
and Memphis will bury them.
Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver,
and thorns will be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come.
Israel knows!
The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is insane,
because of your great iniquity and great hatred.
8 The watchman of Ephraim is a prophet
for my God;
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity,
He will punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But they went to Baal Peor
and consecrated themselves to a thing of shame,
and they became an abomination like the thing they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird:
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Though they bring up their children,
I will bereave them until none are left.
Woe to them indeed,
when I depart from them!
13 Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place,
so now Ephraim will bring out
his children for slaughter.
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will You give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal,
for there I hated them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds,
I will drive them out of My house.
I will love them no more.
All their princes are rebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken,
their root is dried up,
they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will slay the beloved offspring of their womb.
17 My God will reject them
because they did not listen to Him,
and they will be wanderers among the nations.
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:1 Gk.; Heb. to exultation.
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.