Hosea 5-9

New American Standard Bible

The People’s Apostasy Rebuked

5 Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, you of the house of the king!
For the judgment applies to you,
Because you have been a ^(A)trap at Mizpah,
And a net spread out on Tabor.
²And the ^(B)rebels have ^(C)gone deep in ^[a]depravity,
But I will discipline all of them.
³I ^(D)know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful,
Israel has defiled itself.
⁴Their deeds will not allow them
To return to their God.
For a ^(E)spirit of ^[b]infidelity is within them,
And they ^(F)do not know the Lord.
⁵Moreover, the ^(G)pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their wrongdoing;
^(H)Judah also has stumbled with them.
⁶They will ^(I)go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will ^(J)not find Him;
He has ^(K)withdrawn from them.
⁷They have ^(L)dealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have given birth to ^[c]^(M)illegitimate children.
Now the ^(N)new moon will devour them with their ^[d]land.

⁸^(O)Blow the horn in ^(P)Gibeah,
And the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
“^(Q)Behind you, Benjamin!”
⁹Ephraim will become a ^(R)desolation in the ^(S)day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I ^(T)make known what is trustworthy.
¹⁰The leaders of Judah have become like those who ^(U)displace a boundary marker;
On them I will ^(V)pour out My anger ^(W)like water.
¹¹Ephraim is ^(X)oppressed, broken by judgment,
^(Y)Because he was determined to follow ^[e]man’s command.
¹²Therefore I am like a ^(Z)moth to Ephraim,
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his ^[f]sore,
Ephraim then went to ^(AA)Assyria
And sent word to ^[g]^(AB)King Jareb.
But he is ^(AC)unable to heal you,
Or to cure you of your ^[h]sore.
¹⁴For I will be ^(AD)like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
^(AE)I, yes I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be ^(AF)no one to rescue.
¹⁵I will go away and return to My place
Until they ^[i]^(AG)acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their distress they will ^(AH)search for Me.

The Response to God’s Rebuke

6 “^(AI)Come, let’s return to the Lord.
For ^(AJ)He has torn us, but ^(AK)He will heal us;
He has ^[j]wounded us, but He will ^(AL)bandage us.
²He will ^(AM)revive us after two days;
He will ^(AN)raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
³So let’s ^(AO)learn, let’s press on to know the Lord.
His ^(AP)appearance is as sure as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the ^(AQ)rain,
As the spring rain waters the earth.”

⁴What shall I do with you, ^(AR)Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, Judah?
For your loyalty is like a ^(AS)morning cloud,
And like the dew which goes away early.
⁵Therefore I have ^(AT)cut them in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the ^(AU)words of My mouth;
And the judgments on you are like the light that ^[k]shines.
⁶For ^(AV)I ^[l]desire loyalty ^(AW)rather than sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
⁷But ^(AX)like ^[m]Adam they have ^(AY)violated the covenant;
There they have ^(AZ)dealt treacherously with Me.
⁸^(BA)Gilead is a city of wrongdoers,
Tracked with ^(BB)bloody footprints.
⁹And as a ^(BC)band of robbers lie in wait for a person,
So a band of priests ^(BD)murder on the way to Shechem;
Certainly they have committed an act of ^(BE)infamy.
¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a ^(BF)horrible thing;
Ephraim’s ^(BG)infidelity is there, Israel has defiled itself.
¹¹Also, Judah, there is a ^(BH)harvest appointed for you,
When I ^(BI)restore the fortunes of My people.

Ephraim’s Wrongdoing

7 When I ^(BJ)would heal Israel,
The wrongdoing of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the evil deeds of Samaria,
For they practice ^(BK)deception;
The thief enters,
A band of ^(BL)robbers attack outside,
²And they do not ^[n]consider in their hearts
That I ^(BM)remember all their wickedness.
Now their ^(BN)deeds surround them;
They are before My face.
³^(BO)With their wickedness they make the ^(BP)king happy,
And the officials with their ^(BQ)lies.
⁴They are ^(BR)all adulterers,
Like an oven heated by the baker,
Who stops ^[o]stoking the fire
From the time the dough is kneaded until it is leavened.
⁵On the ^[p]day of our king, the officials ^(BS)became sick with the heat of wine;
He stretched out his hand with ^[q]^(BT)scoffers,
⁶For their hearts are like an ^(BU)oven
As they approach their ^[r]plotting;
Their ^[s]anger ^[t]smolders all night,
In the morning it burns like flaming fire.
⁷All of them are hot like an oven,
And they consume their ^(BV)rulers;
All their kings have fallen.
^(BW)None of them calls on Me.

⁸Ephraim is himself ^(BX)thrown about with the ^[u]nations;
Ephraim has become a round loaf not turned over.
⁹^(BY)Strangers devour his strength,
Yet he ^(BZ)does not know it;
Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him,
Yet he does not know it.
¹⁰Though the ^(CA)pride of Israel testifies against him,
Yet ^(CB)they have not returned to the Lord their God,
Nor have they sought Him, despite all this.
¹¹So ^(CC)Ephraim has become like a gullible dove, ^(CD)without ^[v]sense;
They call to ^(CE)Egypt, they go to ^(CF)Assyria.
¹²When they go, I will ^(CG)spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.
I will ^(CH)discipline them in accordance with the ^[w]proclamation to their assembly.
¹³^(CI)Woe to them, for they have ^(CJ)strayed from Me!
Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!
I ^(CK)would redeem them, but they have spoken lies against Me.
¹⁴And ^(CL)they do not cry to Me from their heart
When they wail on their beds;
For the sake of grain and new wine they ^[x]^(CM)assemble themselves,
They ^(CN)turn against Me.
¹⁵Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
Yet they ^(CO)devise evil against Me.
¹⁶They turn, but not ^[y]upward,
They are like a ^(CP)loose bow;
Their officials will fall by the sword
Because of the ^[z]^(CQ)insolence of their tongue.
This will be their ^(CR)derision in the land of Egypt.

Israel Reaps the Whirlwind

8 ^(CS)Put the trumpet to your ^[aa]lips!
^(CT)Like an eagle the enemy comes ^(CU)against the house of the Lord,
Because they have ^(CV)violated My covenant
And rebelled against My ^(CW)Law.
²^(CX)They cry out to Me,
“My God, ^(CY)we of Israel know You!”
³Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.
⁴^(CZ)They have set up kings, but not by Me;
They have appointed officials, but I did not know it.
With their ^(DA)silver and gold they have made idols for themselves,
So that ^[ab]they will be eliminated.
⁵^[ac]He has rejected your ^(DB)calf, Samaria, saying,
“My anger burns against them!”
How long will they be incapable of ^(DC)innocence?
⁶For from Israel comes even this!
A ^(DD)craftsman made it, so it is not God;
Assuredly, the calf of Samaria will be broken to ^[ad]pieces.
⁷For ^(DE)they sow wind
And they harvest a ^(DF)storm.
The standing grain has no ^[ae]kernels;
It yields ^(DG)no ^[af]grain.
If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it.

⁸Israel has been ^(DH)swallowed up;
They are now among the nations
Like a ^(DI)vessel in which no one delights.
⁹For they have gone up to ^(DJ)Assyria,
Like ^(DK)a wild donkey all alone;
Ephraim has ^(DL)paid fees for ^[ag]lovers.
¹⁰Even though they ^[ah]pay for allies among the nations,
I will ^(DM)gather them up now;
And they will begin ^(DN)to diminish
Because of the burden of the ^(DO)king of officials.

¹¹Since Ephraim has ^(DP)multiplied altars for sin,
They have become altars of sinning for him.
¹²Though ^(DQ)I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My ^(DR)Law,
They are regarded as a strange thing.
¹³As for My ^(DS)sacrificial gifts,
They ^(DT)sacrifice the flesh and eat it,
But the Lord has taken no delight in them.
Now He will ^(DU)remember their guilt,
And ^(DV)punish them for their sins;
They will return to ^(DW)Egypt.
¹⁴For Israel has ^(DX)forgotten his Maker and ^(DY)built palaces;
And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
But I will send a ^(DZ)fire on its cities, and it will consume its palatial buildings.

Ephraim Punished

9 ^(EA)Do not rejoice, Israel, ^[ai]with jubilation like the ^[aj]nations!
For you have ^(EB)been unfaithful, ^[ak]abandoning your God.
You have loved the earnings of unfaithfulness on ^[al]every threshing floor.
²Threshing floor and wine press will ^(EC)not feed them,
And the new wine will fail ^[am]them.
³They will not remain in ^(ED)the Lord’s land,
But Ephraim will return to ^(EE)Egypt,
And in ^(EF)Assyria they will eat ^(EG)unclean food.
⁴They will not pour out drink offerings of ^(EH)wine to the Lord,
^(EI)Nor will ^[an]their sacrifices please Him.
Their bread will be to them like ^[ao]mourners’ bread;
All who eat it will be ^(EJ)defiled,
Because their bread will be for ^[ap]themselves alone;
It will not enter the house of the Lord.
⁵^(EK)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival
And on the day of the ^(EL)feast of the Lord?
⁶For behold, they will be gone because of destruction;
Egypt will gather them together, ^(EM)Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will take possession of their treasures of silver;
^(EN)Thorns will be in their tents.

⁷The days of ^(EO)punishment have come,
The days of ^(EP)retribution have come;
^[aq]Let Israel know this!
The prophet is a ^(EQ)fool,
The ^[ar]inspired person is ^(ER)insane,
Because of the grossness of your ^(ES)wrongdoing,
And because your ^[as]hostility is so great.
⁸Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a prophet;
Yet the snare of a bird catcher is in all his ways,
And there is only ^[at]hostility in the house of his God.
⁹They are ^(ET)deeply depraved
As in the days of ^(EU)Gibeah;
He will ^(EV)remember their guilt,
He will punish their sins.

¹⁰I found Israel like ^(EW)grapes in the wilderness;
I saw your forefathers as the ^(EX)earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season.
But they came to ^(EY)Baal-peor and devoted themselves to ^[au]^(EZ)shame,
And they became as ^(FA)detestable as that which they loved.
¹¹As for Ephraim, their ^(FB)glory will fly away like a bird—
No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
¹²Though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them of their children ^[av]until not a person is left.
Yes, ^(FC)woe to them indeed when I depart from them!
¹³Ephraim, as I have seen,
Is planted in a pasture like ^(FD)Tyre;
But Ephraim is going to bring out his children for slaughter.
¹⁴Give to them, Lord—what will You give?
Give them a ^(FE)miscarrying womb and dried-up breasts.

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