Ephraim Punished

(A)Do not rejoice, Israel, [a]with jubilation like the [b]nations!
For you have (B)been unfaithful, [c]abandoning your God.
You have loved the earnings of unfaithfulness on [d]every threshing floor.
Threshing floor and wine press will (C)not feed them,
And the new wine will fail [e]them.
They will not remain in (D)the Lords land,
But Ephraim will return to (E)Egypt,
And in (F)Assyria they will eat (G)unclean food.
They will not pour out drink offerings of (H)wine to the Lord,
(I)Nor will [f]their sacrifices please Him.
Their bread will be to them like [g]mourners’ bread;
All who eat it will be (J)defiled,
Because their bread will be for [h]themselves alone;
It will not enter the house of the Lord.
(K)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival
And on the day of the (L)feast of the Lord?
For behold, they will be gone because of destruction;
Egypt will gather them together, (M)Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will take possession of their treasures of silver;
(N)Thorns will be in their tents.

The days of (O)punishment have come,
The days of (P)retribution have come;
[i]Let Israel know this!
The prophet is a (Q)fool,
The [j]inspired person is (R)insane,
Because of the grossness of your (S)wrongdoing,
And because your [k]hostility is so great.
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 [l]hostility in the house of his God.
They are (T)deeply depraved
As in the days of (U)Gibeah;
He will (V)remember their guilt,
He will punish their sins.

10 I found Israel like (W)grapes in the wilderness;
I saw your forefathers as the (X)earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season.
But they came to (Y)Baal-peor and devoted themselves to [m](Z)shame,
And they became as (AA)detestable as that which they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their (AB)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 [n]until not a person is left.
Yes, (AC)woe to them indeed when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I have seen,
Is planted in a pasture like (AD)Tyre;
But Ephraim is going to bring out his children for slaughter.
14 Give to them, Lord—what will You give?
Give them a (AE)miscarrying womb and dried-up breasts.

15 All their evil is at (AF)Gilgal;
Indeed, I came to hate them there!
Because of the (AG)wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of My house!
I will no longer love them;
All their leaders are (AH)rebels.
16 (AI)Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up,
They will produce (AJ)no fruit.
Even though they give birth to children,
I will put to death the (AK)precious ones of their womb.
17 My God will reject them
Because they have (AL)not listened to Him;
And they will be (AM)wanderers among the nations.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:1 Lit to
  2. Hosea 9:1 Lit peoples
  3. Hosea 9:1 Lit away from your God
  4. Hosea 9:1 Lit all threshing floors of grain
  5. Hosea 9:2 Lit her
  6. Hosea 9:4 Or they offer to Him their
  7. Hosea 9:4 Lit bread of mourning
  8. Hosea 9:4 Lit their soul
  9. Hosea 9:7 Or Israel will know this
  10. Hosea 9:7 Lit man of the spirit
  11. Hosea 9:7 Or persecution
  12. Hosea 9:8 Or persecution
  13. Hosea 9:10 I.e., Baal
  14. Hosea 9:12 Lit without a person

Arrival of divine judgment

Don’t rejoice, Israel!
        Don’t celebrate as other nations do;
        for as whores you have gone away from your God.
        You have loved a prostitute’s pay
            on all threshing floors of grain.
Threshing floor and wine vat won’t feed them;
        the new wine will fail them.
They won’t remain in the land of the Lord;
        but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
        and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.
They won’t pour wine as an offering to the Lord;
        their sacrifices won’t please him.
    Such sacrifices will be like food for those who touch the dead;
        all who eat of it will be unclean;
        their bread will be for their hunger alone;
            it will not come to the Lord’s house.
What will you do on the day of appointed festival,
        on the day of the Lord’s festival?
Even if they escape destruction,
        Egypt will gather them,
        Memphis will bury them.
    Briars will possess their precious things of silver;[a]
        thorns will be in their tents.
The days of punishment have come;
        the days of judgment have arrived;
    Israel cries,
        “The prophet is a fool,
        the spiritual man is mad!”
    Because of your great wickedness,
        your rejection of me is great.

Tragic consequences

The prophet is God’s watchman
    looking over Ephraim,
    yet a hunter’s trap is set, covering all his ways,
        and rejection is in his God’s house.
They have corrupted themselves terribly
        as in the days of Gibeah;
    he will remember their wickedness;
        he will punish their sins.

10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
        I found Israel.
    In its first season,
    like the first fruit on the fig tree,
        I saw your ancestors.
    But they came to Baal-peor,
        and worshipped a thing of shame;
    they became detestable like the thing they loved.[b]
11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—
        no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Though they bring up children,
        I will make them childless
        until no one is left.
    Doom to them indeed when I leave them!
13 When I looked toward Tyre,
    Ephraim was planted in a lovely meadow;
        but now Ephraim must lead out his children for slaughter.
14 Give them, Lord
        what will you give them?
    Give them a womb that miscarries
        and breasts that are dried up.
15 Every wickedness 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.
16 Ephraim is sick,
        their root is dried up,
        they will bear no fruit.
    Even though they give birth,
        I will put to death their much-loved little ones.
17 Because they haven’t listened to him,
        my God will reject them;
        they will wander among the nations.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:6 Or the proud glory pertaining to their silver; Heb uncertain
  2. Hosea 9:10 Heb uncertain