Hosea 9:8-10:15

English Standard Version

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

¹⁵ Every evil of theirs is in ^(R)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 ^(S)their princes are ^(T)rebels.

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

10 ^(Z)Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
    ^(AA)the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
    he improved his pillars.
² Their heart is false;
    now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord^[c] will break down their altars
    and destroy their pillars.

³ For now they will say:
    ^(AB)“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
⁴ They utter ^(AC)mere words;
    with empty^[d] oaths they make covenants;
so ^(AD)judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    ^(AE)in the furrows of the field.
⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
    for ^(AF)the calf^[e] of ^(AG)Beth-aven.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
    those who rejoiced over it and ^(AH)over its glory—
    for it has departed^[f] from them.
^6 (AI)The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
    as tribute to ^(AJ)the great king.^[g]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed ^(AK)of his idol.^[h]

^7 (AL)Samaria's king shall perish
    like a twig on the face of the waters.
⁸ The high places of ^(AM)Aven, ^(AN)the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
^(AO)Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
and ^(AP)they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

⁹ From ^(AQ)the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not the war against the unjust^[i] overtake them in Gibeah?
^10 (AR)When I please, ^(AS)I will discipline them,
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are bound up for ^(AT)their double iniquity.

¹¹ Ephraim was a trained calf
    that ^(AU)loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put ^(AV)Ephraim to the yoke;
    ^(AW)Judah must plow;
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
^12 (AX)Sow for yourselves righteousness;
    reap steadfast love;
    ^(AY)break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
    that he may come and ^(AZ)rain righteousness upon you.

^13 (BA)You have plowed iniquity;
    you have reaped injustice;
    you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
    and in the multitude of your warriors,
¹⁴ therefore ^(BB)the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as ^(BC)Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
    ^(BD)mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
¹⁵ Thus it shall be done to you, O ^(BE)Bethel,
    because of your great evil.
At dawn ^(BF)the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.