Hosea 8-9

New King James Version

⁴ “They^(D) set up kings, but not by Me;
They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.
From their silver and gold
They made idols for themselves—
That they might be cut off.
⁵ Your ^[b]calf ^[c]is rejected, O Samaria!
My anger is aroused against them—
^(E)How long until they attain to innocence?
⁶ For from Israel is even this:
A ^(F)workman made it, and it is not God;
But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.

⁷ “They^(G) sow the wind,
And reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no bud;
It shall never produce meal.
If it should produce,
^(H)Aliens would swallow it up.
^8 (I)Israel is swallowed up;
Now they are among the Gentiles
^(J)Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.
⁹ For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like ^(K)a wild donkey alone by itself;
Ephraim ^(L)has hired lovers.
¹⁰ Yes, though they have hired among the nations,
Now ^(M)I will gather them;
And they shall ^[d]sorrow a little,
Because of the ^[e]burden of ^(N)the king of princes.

¹¹ “Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin,
They have become for him altars for sinning.
¹² I have written for him ^(O)the great things of My law,
But they were considered a strange thing.
¹³ For the sacrifices of My offerings ^(P)they sacrifice flesh and eat it,
^(Q)But the Lord does not accept them.
^(R)Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
They shall return to Egypt.

¹⁴ “For^(S) Israel has forgotten ^(T)his Maker,
And has built ^[f]temples;
Judah also has multiplied ^(U)fortified cities;
But ^(V)I will send fire upon his cities,
And it shall devour his ^[g]palaces.”

³ They shall not dwell in ^(Y)the Lord’s land,
^(Z)But Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
And ^(AA)shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
⁴ They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord,
Nor ^(AB)shall their ^(AC)sacrifices be pleasing to Him.
It shall be like bread of mourners to them;
All who eat it shall be defiled.
For their bread shall be for their own life;
It shall not come into the house of the Lord.

⁵ What will you do in the appointed day,
And in the day of the feast of the Lord?
⁶ For indeed they are gone because of destruction.
Egypt shall gather them up;
Memphis shall bury them.
^(AD)Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver;
Thorns shall be in their tents.

⁷ The ^(AE)days of punishment have come;
The days of recompense have come.
Israel knows!
The prophet is a ^(AF)fool,
^(AG)The spiritual man is insane,
Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.
⁸ The ^(AH)watchman of Ephraim is with my God;
But the prophet is a ^[h]fowler’s snare in all his ways—
Enmity in the house of his God.
^9 (AI)They are deeply corrupted,
As in the days of ^(AJ)Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity;
He will punish their sins.

¹⁰ “I found Israel
Like grapes in the ^(AK)wilderness;
I saw your fathers
As the ^(AL)firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.
But they went to ^(AM)Baal Peor,
And ^[i]separated themselves to that shame;
^(AN)They became an abomination like the thing they loved.
¹¹ As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird—
No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
¹² Though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them to the last man.
Yes, ^(AO)woe to them when I depart from them!
¹³ Just ^(AP)as I saw Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place,
So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.”

¹⁴ Give them, O Lord—
What will You give?
Give them ^(AQ)a miscarrying womb
And dry breasts!

¹⁵ “All their wickedness is in ^(AR)Gilgal,
For there I hated them.
Because of the evil of their deeds
I will drive them from My house;
I will love them no more.
^(AS)All their princes are rebellious.
¹⁶ Ephraim is ^(AT)stricken,
Their root is dried up;
They shall bear no fruit.
Yes, were they to bear children,
I would kill the darlings of their womb.”

¹⁷ My God will ^(AU)cast them away,
Because they did not obey Him;
And they shall be ^(AV)wanderers among the nations.