Hosea 9

1 “Do not rejoice, O Israel, do not be joyful like the peoples, For you have gone whoring from your God, You have loved a wage near all floors of grain.

Rejoice not, O Israel, neither make merry, as [other] nations: for you have gone a-whoring from your God; you have loved gifts upon every threshing floor.

2 Floor and winepress do not feed them, And new wine fails in her,

The threshing floor and wine-press knew them not, and the wine disappointed them.

3 They do not abide in the land of YHWH, And Ephraim has turned back [to] Egypt, And they eat an unclean thing in Asshur.

They lived not in the Lord's land: Ephraim lived in Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things amongst the Assyrians.

4 They do not pour out wine to YHWH, Nor are they sweet to Him, Their sacrifices [are] as bread of mourners to them, All eating it are unclean: For their bread [is] for themselves, It does not come into the house of YHWH.

They have not offered wine to the Lord, neither have their sacrifices been sweet to him, [but] as the bread of mourning to them; all that eat them shall be defiled; for their bread for their soul shall not enter into the house of the Lord.

5 What do you do at the day appointed? And at the day of YHWH’s festival?

What will you do in the day of the general assembly, and in the day of the feast of the Lord?

6 For behold, they have gone because of destruction, Egypt gathers them, Moph buries them, The desirable things of their silver, Nettles possess them—a thorn [is] in their tents.

Therefore, behold, they go forth from the trouble of Egypt, and Memphis shall receive them, and Machmas shall bury them: [as for] their silver, destruction shall inherit it; thorns [shall be] in their tents.

7 The days of inspection have come in, The days of repayment have come in, Israel knows! The prophet [is] a fool, Mad [is] the man of the spirit, Because of the abundance of your iniquity, And great [is] the hatred.

The days of vengeance are come, the days of your recompense are come; and Israel shall be afflicted as the prophet that is mad, as a man deranged: by reason of the multitude of your iniquities your madness has abounded.

8 Ephraim is looking [away] from My God, The prophet! A snare of a fowler [is] over all his ways, Hatred [is] in the house of his God.

The watchman of Ephraim [was] with God: the prophet is a crooked snare in all his ways: they have established madness in the house of God.

9 They have gone deep—have done corruptly, As [in] the days of Gibeah, He remembers their iniquity, He inspects their sins.

They have corrupted themselves according to the days of the hill: he will remember their iniquities, he will take vengeance on their sins.

10 As grapes in a wilderness I found Israel, As the first-fruit in a fig tree, at its beginning, I have seen your fathers, They have gone in [to] Ba‘al-Peor, And are separated to a shameful thing, And have become abominable like their love.

I found Israel as grapes in the wilderness, and I saw their fathers as an early watchman in a fig tree: they went in to Beel-phegor, and were shamefully estranged, and the abominable became as the beloved.

11 Ephraim [is] as a bird, their glory flies away, without birth, and without womb, and without conception.

Ephraim has flown away as a bird; their glories from the birth, and the travail, and the conception.

12 For though they nourish their sons, I have made them childless—without man, Surely also, woe to them when I turn aside from them.

For even if they should rear their children, yet shall they be utterly bereaved: therefore also there is woe to them, [though] my flesh is of them.

13 Ephraim! When I have looked to the rock, Is planted in comeliness, And Ephraim [is] to bring out his sons to a slayer.

Ephraim, [even] as I saw, gave their children for a prey; yes, Ephraim [was ready] to bring out his children to slaughter.

14 Give to them, YHWH—what do You give? Give to them miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.

Give them, O Lord: what will you give them? a miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.

15 All their evil [is] in Gilgal, Surely there I have hated them, Because of the evil of their doings, Out of My house I drive them, I no longer love them, All their heads [are] apostates.

All their wickedness is in Galgal: for there I hated them: because of the wickedness of their practices, I will cast them out of my house, I will not love them any more: all their princes are disobedient.

16 Ephraim has been struck, Their root has dried up, they do not yield fruit, Indeed, though they bring forth, I have put to death the desired of their womb.

Ephraim is sick, he is dried up at his roots, he shall in no wise any more bear fruit: therefore even if they should beget [children], I will kill the desired [fruit] of their womb.

17 My God rejects them, Because they have not listened to Him, And they are wanderers among nations!”

God shall reject them, because they have not listened to him: and they shall be wanderers amongst the nations.