Hosea 9

English Standard Version

The Lord Will Punish Israel

9 Rejoice not, O Israel!
    Exult not like the peoples;
^(A)for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
    ^(B)You have loved a prostitute's wages
    on all threshing floors.
²^(C)Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
    and ^(D)the new wine shall fail them.
³They shall not remain in ^(E)the land of the Lord,
    but ^(F)Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
    and ^(G)they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.

⁴^(H)They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
    ^(I)and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like ^(J)mourners' bread to them;
    all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
    ^(K)it shall not come to the house of the Lord.

⁵^(L)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
    and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
⁶For behold, they are going away from destruction;
    but ^(M)Egypt shall gather them;
    Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess ^(N)their precious things of silver;
    ^(O)thorns shall be in their tents.

⁷^(P)The days of punishment have come;
    the days of recompense have come;
    Israel shall know it.
^(Q)The prophet is a fool;
    the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
    and great hatred.
⁸The prophet is ^(R)the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet ^(S)a fowler's snare is on all his ways,
    and hatred in the house of his God.
⁹^(T)They have deeply corrupted themselves
    as ^(U)in the days of Gibeah:
^(V)he will remember their iniquity;
    he will punish their sins.

¹⁰Like grapes in the wilderness,
    ^(W)I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
    in its first season,
    I saw your fathers.
But ^(X)they came to Baal-peor
    and ^(Y)consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
    and ^(Z)became detestable like the thing they loved.
¹¹Ephraim's ^(AA)glory shall fly away like a bird—
    ^(AB)no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
¹²^(AC)Even if they bring up children,
    I will bereave them till none is left.
^(AD)Woe to them
    when ^(AE)I depart from them!
¹³Ephraim, ^(AF)as I have seen, was like a young palm^[a] planted in a meadow;
    but ^(AG)Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.^[b]
¹⁴Give them, O Lord—
    what will you give?
Give them ^(AH)a miscarrying womb
    and dry breasts.

¹⁵Every evil of theirs is in ^(AI)Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
    all ^(AJ)their princes are ^(AK)rebels.

¹⁶Ephraim is stricken;
    ^(AL)their root is dried up;
    they shall bear no fruit.
Even ^(AM)though they give birth,
    ^(AN)I will put their beloved children to death.
¹⁷^(AO)My God will reject them
    because they have not listened to him;
    ^(AP)they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Footnotes

Hosea 9:13 Or like Tyre
Hosea 9:13 Hebrew to him who slaughters

Psalm 126-128

English Standard Version

Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

126 When the Lord ^(B)restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who ^(C)dream.
²Then our ^(D)mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
    ^(E)“The Lord has done great things for them.”
³The Lord has done great things for us;
    we are glad.

⁴Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like streams in the Negeb!
⁵^(F)Those who sow in tears
    shall reap with shouts of joy!
⁶He who goes out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    bringing his sheaves with him.

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of ^(G)Ascents. Of Solomon.

127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord ^(H)watches over the city,
    the watchman stays awake in vain.
²It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious ^(I)toil;
    for he gives to his ^(J)beloved ^(K)sleep.

³Behold, ^(L)children are a heritage from the Lord,
    ^(M)the fruit of the womb a reward.
⁴Like arrows in the hand of ^(N)a warrior
    are the children^[a] of one's youth.
⁵Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies ^(O)in the gate.^[b]

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

A Song of ^(P)Ascents.

128 ^(Q)Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who ^(R)walks in his ways!
²You ^(S)shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

³Your wife will be like ^(T)a fruitful vine
    within your house;
your children will be like ^(U)olive shoots
    around your table.
⁴Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
    who fears the Lord.

⁵^(V)The Lord bless you ^(W)from Zion!
    May you see ^(X)the prosperity of Jerusalem
    all the days of your life!
⁶May you see your ^(Y)children's children!
    ^(Z)Peace be upon Israel!