Hosea 9
1 Do not choose to rejoice, Israel; do not celebrate as the crowds do. For you have been committing fornication against your God; you have loved a prize upon every threshing floor of wheat.
Do not rejoice, Israel, with joy like the other peoples. For you have been unfaithful, forsaking your God. You love to pay the wages a prostitute requires on all the threshing floors.
2 The threshing floor and the oil press will not feed them, and the wine will deceive them.
But the threshing floor and the winepress will not feed them; the new wine will fail them.
3 They will not dwell in the land of the Lord. Ephraim has been returned to Egypt, and he has eaten polluted things among the Assyrians.
They will not continue to live in Yahweh's land; instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, and one day they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 They will not offer a libation of wine to the Lord, and they will not please him. Their sacrifices will be like the bread of mourners. All those who eat it will be defiled. For their bread is of their soul; it will not enter into the house of the Lord.
They will pour out no wine offerings to Yahweh, neither will they be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be to them like mourners' food: all who eat it will be defiled. For their food will be for themselves only; it will not come into the house of Yahweh.
5 What will you do on the solemn day, on the day of the feast of the Lord?
What will you do on the day of an appointed festival, on the day of a festival for Yahweh?
6 For, behold, they have been sent away by devastation. Egypt will gather them together; Memphis will bury them. Nettles will inherit their desired silver; the burr will be in their tabernacles.
For, look, if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. As for their treasures of silver— sharp briers will possess them, and thorns will fill their tents.
7 The days of visitation have arrived; the days of retribution are here. Know this, Israel: that the prophet was foolish, the spiritual man was mad, because of the multitude of your iniquities and the great extent of your foolishness.
The days for punishment are coming; the days for retribution are coming. Let all Israel know these things. The prophet is a fool, and the inspired man is insane, because of your great iniquity and great hostility.
8 The watcher of Ephraim was with my God. The prophet has become a snare of ruin over all his ways; insanity is in the house of his God.
The prophet is the watchman for my God over Ephraim. But a bird snare is on all of his paths, and hostility toward him is in the house of his God.
9 They have sinned profoundly, just as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity, and he will repay their sin.
They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. God will call to mind their iniquity, and he will punish their sins.
10 I discovered Israel like grapes in the desert. Like the first fruits of the fig tree, I saw their fathers on the end of its branches. But they went in to Baal-peor, and they have been estranged by intermingling, and they have become abominable, just like the things that they chose to love.
Yahweh says, “When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness. Like the very first fruit of the season on the fig tree, I found your fathers. But they went to Baal Peor, and they devoted themselves to that shameful idol. They became as detestable as the idol they loved.
11 Ephraim has chased away their glory like a bird: from birth, and from the womb, and from conception.
As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird. There will be no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.
12 And even if they should nurture their sons, I will make them without children among men. Yes, and woe to them, when I have withdrawn from them.
Though they have brought up children, I will take them away so that none of them is left. Woe to them when I turn away from them!
13 Ephraim, as I see it, was a Tyre, founded by beauty. And Ephraim will lead his sons to execution.
I have seen Ephraim, just like Tyre, planted in a meadow, but Ephraim will bring out his children to someone who will slaughter them.”
14 Give them, O Lord. What will you give them? Give them a womb without children, and dry breasts.
Give them, Yahweh—what will you give them? Give them a miscarrying womb and breasts that give no milk.
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for I held them there, in their hatred. Because of the malice of their inventions, I will expel them from my house. I will no longer say that I love them; all their leaders have retreated.
“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, that is where I began to hate them. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their officials are rebels.
16 Ephraim has been struck; their root has been dried out: by no means will they yield fruit. And even if they should conceive, I will execute the most beloved of their womb.
Ephraim is diseased, and their root is dried up; they bear no fruit. Even if they have children, I will put their beloved children to death.”
17 My God will cast them aside because they have not listened to him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.
My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him. They will become wanderers among the nations.
