Add parallel Print Page Options

Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations;

    for you were unfaithful to your God.
    You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.
The threshing floor and the wine press won’t feed them,
    and the new wine will fail her.
They won’t dwell in Yahweh’s land;
    but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
    and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
They won’t pour out wine offerings to Yahweh,
    neither will they be pleasing to him.
    Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;
    all who eat of it will be polluted;
    for their bread will be for their appetite.
    It will not come into Yahweh’s house.
What will you do in the day of solemn assembly,
    and in the day of the feast of Yahweh?
For, behold, when they flee destruction,
    Egypt will gather them up.
    Memphis will bury them.
    Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver.
    Thorns will be in their tents.
The days of visitation have come.
    The days of reckoning have come.
Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool,
    and the man who is inspired to be insane,
    because of the abundance of your sins,
    and because your hostility is great.
A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God.
    A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.
They have deeply corrupted themselves,
    as in the days of Gibeah.
    He will remember their iniquity.
    He will punish them for their sins.
10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.
    I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season;
    but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing,
    and became abominable like that which they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird.
    There will be no birth, no one with child, and no conception.
12 Though they bring up their children,
    yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left.
    Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!
13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place;
    but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.
14 Give them—Yahweh 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 struck.
    Their root has dried up.
    They will bear no fruit.
    Even though they give birth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.”

17 My God will cast them away, because they didn’t listen to him;
    and they will be wanderers among the nations.

Ephraim Faces Punishment

Do not rejoice, O Israel,
do not exult like the nations!
For you played the whore, departing from your God;
    you loved a harlot’s wage
on all the threshing floors of grain.
    Threshing floor and wine vat will not feed them,
and new wine will fail her.[a]
    They will not remain
        in the land of Yahweh.
But Ephraim will return to Egypt,
    and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.
They will not pour drink offerings of wine to Yahweh,
    and their sacrifices will not please him.
They are like mourners’ bread for them;
    all those who eat it will be defiled.
For their bread will be for their hunger;[b]
    it will not come to the house of Yahweh.
What will you do on the day of the appointed time,
    and on the day of the festival of Yahweh?
For look! If they flee from the destruction,
    Egypt will gather them;
    Memphis[c] will bury them.
Nettles will possess
    their precious things of silver;
        thorns will be in their tents.
The days of punishment have come;
the days of retribution have come;
    Israel knows!
The prophet is a fool,
    the man of the spirit is acting like a madman.
Because of the greatness of your sin,
    your hostility is great.
The prophet keeps watch over Ephraim for my God;
    the snare of a fowler is on all his ways,
    and hostility in the house of his God.
They deeply corrupted themselves[d]
    as in the days of Gibeah;
he will remember their sin,
    he will punish their sins.
10 Like the grapes in the wilderness,
    I found Israel.
Like early ripened fruit on the fig tree in the first season,[e]
    I saw your ancestors.[f]
They themselves came to Baal Peor,
    and they consecrated themselves to shame.
And they became detestable things,
    like the thing they love.[g]
11 Ephraim’s glory is like a bird;
    it will fly away—
        no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.
12 Even though they bring up their children,
    I will bereave them before maturity.[h]
Woe to them indeed,
    when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I see it,
    is like a palm in a meadow;
but Ephraim must bring out
    his children to the slayer.
14 Give them, O Yahweh—
    what will you give them?
Give them a miscarrying womb
    and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal,
    so I began to hate them there;
because of the evil of their deeds
    I will drive them out from my house.
I will love them no more;
    all their officials are rebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken,
    their root is dried up,
        they shall not bear fruit.
Even if they give birth,
    I will kill the cherished 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

  1. Hosea 9:2 That is, Israel
  2. Hosea 9:4 Literally “for their soul”
  3. Hosea 9:6 Hebrew “Noph”
  4. Hosea 9:9 Literally “They made deep, they corrupted themselves”
  5. Hosea 9:10 Or “in the beginning”
  6. Hosea 9:10 Or “fathers”
  7. Hosea 9:10 Literally “like loving things”
  8. Hosea 9:12 Or “until no one is left”