Hosea 9:11-17
New English Translation
The Fertility Worshipers Will Become Infertile
11 Ephraim will be like a bird;
what they value[a] will fly away.
They will not bear children—
they will not enjoy pregnancy—
they will not even conceive![b]
12 Even if they raise their children,
I will take away every last one of them.[c]
Woe to them!
For I will turn away from them.
13 Ephraim, as I have seen, has given their children for prey;[d]
Ephraim will bear his sons for slaughter.
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry,
and breasts that cannot nurse![e]
15 Because of all their evil in Gilgal,
I hate them there.
On account of their evil deeds,
I will drive them out of my land.[f]
I will no longer love them;
all their rulers are rebels.
16 Ephraim will be struck down[g]—
their root will be dried up;
they will not yield any fruit.
Even if they do bear children,
I will kill their precious offspring.
17 My God will reject them,
for they have not obeyed him;
so they will be fugitives among the nations.
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:11 tn Heb “their glory” (so NASB); cf. TEV “Israel’s greatness.”
- Hosea 9:11 tn Heb “no childbearing, no pregnancy, no conception.” The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to the three parallel nouns functions in a privative sense, indicating deprivation (BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7).
- Hosea 9:12 tn Heb “I will bereave them from a man”; cf. NRSV “I will bereave them until no one is left.”
- Hosea 9:13 tc The MT is difficult here. The first line of the MT reads, “Ephraim as I have seen like Tyre is planted in a meadow.” The verse may suggest that as Tyre had a pleasant location but will be judged (cf. Isa 23:1-18; Amos 1:9-10), so now also Ephraim will be. The BHS editors suggest emending the text of 13a to follow the LXX reading, which substantially follows the MT consonantal text and is given above. See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:250-51.
- Hosea 9:14 tn Heb “breasts that shrivel up dry”; cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV “dry breasts.”
- Hosea 9:15 tn Heb “out of my house” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV, NCV, and NLT have “my land.”
- Hosea 9:16 tn Or perhaps, following the plant metaphor: “will be blighted” (the NIV is similar).
Hosea 9:11-17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
11 Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!(A)
12 Even if they bring up children,
I will bereave them until no one is left.
Woe to them indeed
when I depart from them!(B)
13 Once I saw Ephraim as a young palm planted in a lovely meadow,[a]
but now Ephraim must lead out his children for slaughter.(C)
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal;
there I came 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 their officials are rebels.(D)
16 Ephraim is stricken,
their root is dried up,
they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will kill the cherished offspring of their womb.(E)
17 Because they have not listened to him,
my God will reject them;
they shall become wanderers among the nations.(F)
Footnotes
- 9.13 Meaning of Heb uncertain
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