Israel to Reap the Whirlwind

“Put the trumpet(A) to your lips!
    An eagle(B) is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant(C)
    and rebelled against my law.(D)
Israel cries out to me,
    ‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
But Israel has rejected what is good;
    an enemy will pursue him.(E)
They set up kings without my consent;
    they choose princes without my approval.(F)
With their silver and gold
    they make idols(G) for themselves
    to their own destruction.
Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!(H)
    My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?(I)
    They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
    it is not God.(J)
It will be broken in pieces,
    that calf(K) of Samaria.(L)

“They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.(M)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.(N)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.(O)
Israel is swallowed up;(P)
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.(Q)
For they have gone up to Assyria(R)
    like a wild donkey(S) wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.(T)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.(U)
They will begin to waste away(V)
    under the oppression of the mighty king.

11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
    these have become altars for sinning.(W)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
    but they regarded them as something foreign.(X)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
    and though they eat(Y) the meat,
    the Lord is not pleased with them.(Z)
Now he will remember(AA) their wickedness
    and punish their sins:(AB)
    They will return to Egypt.(AC)
14 Israel has forgotten(AD) their Maker(AE)
    and built palaces;
    Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
    that will consume their fortresses.”(AF)

Punishment for Israel

Do not rejoice, Israel;
    do not be jubilant(AG) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful(AH) to your God;
    you love the wages of a prostitute(AI)
    at every threshing floor.
Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
    the new wine(AJ) will fail them.
They will not remain(AK) in the Lord’s land;
    Ephraim will return to Egypt(AL)
    and eat unclean food in Assyria.(AM)
They will not pour out wine offerings(AN) to the Lord,
    nor will their sacrifices please(AO) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;(AP)
    all who eat them will be unclean.(AQ)
This food will be for themselves;
    it will not come into the temple of the Lord.(AR)

What will you do(AS) on the day of your appointed festivals,(AT)
    on the feast days of the Lord?
Even if they escape from destruction,
    Egypt will gather them,(AU)
    and Memphis(AV) will bury them.(AW)
Their treasures of silver(AX) will be taken over by briers,
    and thorns(AY) will overrun their tents.
The days of punishment(AZ) are coming,
    the days of reckoning(BA) are at hand.
    Let Israel know this.
Because your sins(BB) are so many
    and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,(BC)
    the inspired person a maniac.(BD)
The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,[a]
yet snares(BE) await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.(BF)
They have sunk deep into corruption,(BG)
    as in the days of Gibeah.(BH)
God will remember(BI) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.(BJ)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God

Psalm 92[a]

A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music(A) to your name,(B) O Most High,(C)
proclaiming your love in the morning(D)
    and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre(E)
    and the melody of the harp.(F)

For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
    I sing for joy(G) at what your hands have done.(H)
How great are your works,(I) Lord,
    how profound your thoughts!(J)
Senseless people(K) do not know,
    fools do not understand,
that though the wicked spring up like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
    they will be destroyed forever.(L)

But you, Lord, are forever exalted.

For surely your enemies(M), Lord,
    surely your enemies will perish;
    all evildoers will be scattered.(N)
10 You have exalted my horn[b](O) like that of a wild ox;(P)
    fine oils(Q) have been poured on me.
11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
    my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.(R)

12 The righteous will flourish(S) like a palm tree,
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;(T)
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
    they will flourish in the courts of our God.(U)
14 They will still bear fruit(V) in old age,
    they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.(W)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 92:1 In Hebrew texts 92:1-15 is numbered 92:2-16.
  2. Psalm 92:10 Horn here symbolizes strength.

Bible Gateway Recommends