Hosea 6-9

New American Standard Bible

The Response to God’s Rebuke

6 “^(A)Come, let’s return to the Lord.
For ^(B)He has torn us, but ^(C)He will heal us;
He has ^[a]wounded us, but He will ^(D)bandage us.
²He will ^(E)revive us after two days;
He will ^(F)raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
³So let’s ^(G)learn, let’s press on to know the Lord.
His ^(H)appearance is as sure as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the ^(I)rain,
As the spring rain waters the earth.”

⁴What shall I do with you, ^(J)Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, Judah?
For your loyalty is like a ^(K)morning cloud,
And like the dew which goes away early.
⁵Therefore I have ^(L)cut them in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the ^(M)words of My mouth;
And the judgments on you are like the light that ^[b]shines.
⁶For ^(N)I ^[c]desire loyalty ^(O)rather than sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
⁷But ^(P)like ^[d]Adam they have ^(Q)violated the covenant;
There they have ^(R)dealt treacherously with Me.
⁸^(S)Gilead is a city of wrongdoers,
Tracked with ^(T)bloody footprints.
⁹And as a ^(U)band of robbers lie in wait for a person,
So a band of priests ^(V)murder on the way to Shechem;
Certainly they have committed an act of ^(W)infamy.
¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a ^(X)horrible thing;
Ephraim’s ^(Y)infidelity is there, Israel has defiled itself.
¹¹Also, Judah, there is a ^(Z)harvest appointed for you,
When I ^(AA)restore the fortunes of My people.

Ephraim’s Wrongdoing

7 When I ^(AB)would heal Israel,
The wrongdoing of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the evil deeds of Samaria,
For they practice ^(AC)deception;
The thief enters,
A band of ^(AD)robbers attack outside,
²And they do not ^[e]consider in their hearts
That I ^(AE)remember all their wickedness.
Now their ^(AF)deeds surround them;
They are before My face.
³^(AG)With their wickedness they make the ^(AH)king happy,
And the officials with their ^(AI)lies.
⁴They are ^(AJ)all adulterers,
Like an oven heated by the baker,
Who stops ^[f]stoking the fire
From the time the dough is kneaded until it is leavened.
⁵On the ^[g]day of our king, the officials ^(AK)became sick with the heat of wine;
He stretched out his hand with ^[h]^(AL)scoffers,
⁶For their hearts are like an ^(AM)oven
As they approach their ^[i]plotting;
Their ^[j]anger ^[k]smolders all night,
In the morning it burns like flaming fire.
⁷All of them are hot like an oven,
And they consume their ^(AN)rulers;
All their kings have fallen.
^(AO)None of them calls on Me.

⁸Ephraim is himself ^(AP)thrown about with the ^[l]nations;
Ephraim has become a round loaf not turned over.
⁹^(AQ)Strangers devour his strength,
Yet he ^(AR)does not know it;
Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him,
Yet he does not know it.
¹⁰Though the ^(AS)pride of Israel testifies against him,
Yet ^(AT)they have not returned to the Lord their God,
Nor have they sought Him, despite all this.
¹¹So ^(AU)Ephraim has become like a gullible dove, ^(AV)without ^[m]sense;
They call to ^(AW)Egypt, they go to ^(AX)Assyria.
¹²When they go, I will ^(AY)spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.
I will ^(AZ)discipline them in accordance with the ^[n]proclamation to their assembly.
¹³^(BA)Woe to them, for they have ^(BB)strayed from Me!
Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!
I ^(BC)would redeem them, but they have spoken lies against Me.
¹⁴And ^(BD)they do not cry to Me from their heart
When they wail on their beds;
For the sake of grain and new wine they ^[o]^(BE)assemble themselves,
They ^(BF)turn against Me.
¹⁵Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
Yet they ^(BG)devise evil against Me.
¹⁶They turn, but not ^[p]upward,
They are like a ^(BH)loose bow;
Their officials will fall by the sword
Because of the ^[q]^(BI)insolence of their tongue.
This will be their ^(BJ)derision in the land of Egypt.

Israel Reaps the Whirlwind

8 ^(BK)Put the trumpet to your ^[r]lips!
^(BL)Like an eagle the enemy comes ^(BM)against the house of the Lord,
Because they have ^(BN)violated My covenant
And rebelled against My ^(BO)Law.
²^(BP)They cry out to Me,
“My God, ^(BQ)we of Israel know You!”
³Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.
⁴^(BR)They have set up kings, but not by Me;
They have appointed officials, but I did not know it.
With their ^(BS)silver and gold they have made idols for themselves,
So that ^[s]they will be eliminated.
⁵^[t]He has rejected your ^(BT)calf, Samaria, saying,
“My anger burns against them!”
How long will they be incapable of ^(BU)innocence?
⁶For from Israel comes even this!
A ^(BV)craftsman made it, so it is not God;
Assuredly, the calf of Samaria will be broken to ^[u]pieces.
⁷For ^(BW)they sow wind
And they harvest a ^(BX)storm.
The standing grain has no ^[v]kernels;
It yields ^(BY)no ^[w]grain.
If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it.

⁸Israel has been ^(BZ)swallowed up;
They are now among the nations
Like a ^(CA)vessel in which no one delights.
⁹For they have gone up to ^(CB)Assyria,
Like ^(CC)a wild donkey all alone;
Ephraim has ^(CD)paid fees for ^[x]lovers.
¹⁰Even though they ^[y]pay for allies among the nations,
I will ^(CE)gather them up now;
And they will begin ^(CF)to diminish
Because of the burden of the ^(CG)king of officials.

¹¹Since Ephraim has ^(CH)multiplied altars for sin,
They have become altars of sinning for him.
¹²Though ^(CI)I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My ^(CJ)Law,
They are regarded as a strange thing.
¹³As for My ^(CK)sacrificial gifts,
They ^(CL)sacrifice the flesh and eat it,
But the Lord has taken no delight in them.
Now He will ^(CM)remember their guilt,
And ^(CN)punish them for their sins;
They will return to ^(CO)Egypt.
¹⁴For Israel has ^(CP)forgotten his Maker and ^(CQ)built palaces;
And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
But I will send a ^(CR)fire on its cities, and it will consume its palatial buildings.

Ephraim Punished

9 ^(CS)Do not rejoice, Israel, ^[z]with jubilation like the ^[aa]nations!
For you have ^(CT)been unfaithful, ^[ab]abandoning your God.
You have loved the earnings of unfaithfulness on ^[ac]every threshing floor.
²Threshing floor and wine press will ^(CU)not feed them,
And the new wine will fail ^[ad]them.
³They will not remain in ^(CV)the Lord’s land,
But Ephraim will return to ^(CW)Egypt,
And in ^(CX)Assyria they will eat ^(CY)unclean food.
⁴They will not pour out drink offerings of ^(CZ)wine to the Lord,
^(DA)Nor will ^[ae]their sacrifices please Him.
Their bread will be to them like ^[af]mourners’ bread;
All who eat it will be ^(DB)defiled,
Because their bread will be for ^[ag]themselves alone;
It will not enter the house of the Lord.
⁵^(DC)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival
And on the day of the ^(DD)feast of the Lord?
⁶For behold, they will be gone because of destruction;
Egypt will gather them together, ^(DE)Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will take possession of their treasures of silver;
^(DF)Thorns will be in their tents.

⁷The days of ^(DG)punishment have come,
The days of ^(DH)retribution have come;
^[ah]Let Israel know this!
The prophet is a ^(DI)fool,
The ^[ai]inspired person is ^(DJ)insane,
Because of the grossness of your ^(DK)wrongdoing,
And because your ^[aj]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 ^[ak]hostility in the house of his God.
⁹They are ^(DL)deeply depraved
As in the days of ^(DM)Gibeah;
He will ^(DN)remember their guilt,
He will punish their sins.

¹⁰I found Israel like ^(DO)grapes in the wilderness;
I saw your forefathers as the ^(DP)earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season.
But they came to ^(DQ)Baal-peor and devoted themselves to ^[al]^(DR)shame,
And they became as ^(DS)detestable as that which they loved.
¹¹As for Ephraim, their ^(DT)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 ^[am]until not a person is left.
Yes, ^(DU)woe to them indeed when I depart from them!
¹³Ephraim, as I have seen,
Is planted in a pasture like ^(DV)Tyre;
But Ephraim is going to bring out his children for slaughter.
¹⁴Give to them, Lord—what will You give?
Give them a ^(DW)miscarrying womb and dried-up breasts.

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