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.
Israel, don't rejoice! Don't celebrate like other nations! For you have practiced prostitution; you have loved a prostitute's wages on every threshing floor of grain.
2 Floor and winepress do not feed them, And new wine fails in her,
Your threshing floors and winepresses will not feed you; the land will fail to produce your new wine.
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.
You will not stay in the Lord's land, instead Ephraim will return to Egypt, and will eat unclean food in Assyria.
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.
You won't pour out any drink offerings to the Lord. None of your sacrifices will please him. Your sacrifices will be like food eaten by a person in mourning—all who eat will be unclean. You will eat this food yourselves, but it will not enter the house of the Lord.
5 What do you do at the day appointed? And at the day of YHWH’s festival?
What are you going to do on the days of your appointed religious feasts, on the days of the festivals 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.
Look, they have left because of the destruction: Egypt with gather them, and Memphis will bury them. They gain a “valued possession” for their silver. Weeds will possess them, and thorns will grow over 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 time of punishment has come; the day of retribution has arrived. Let Israel know! You say the prophet is a fool, the man of the Spirit is mad, because your sin and hostility is so great.
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 over Ephraim is with my God, and a prophet is a birdcatcher's snare on all his ways. Hatred is in the house of his God
9 They have gone deep—have done corruptly, As [in] the days of Gibeah, He remembers their iniquity, He inspects their sins.
for they have corrupted themselves so deeply, as in the time of Gibeah. He will remember their sin; he will punish their wickedness.
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.
When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert. When I saw your forefathers it was like seeing early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they gave themselves over to that shameful idol, becoming as filthy as the filthy thing they loved.
11 Ephraim [is] as a bird, their glory flies away, without birth, and without womb, and without conception.
Ephraim! Like a bird that flies away so shall your glory—no births, no pregnancies, no conceptions.
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.
Even if they bring up children, I will make sure they do not survive. What a disaster for you when I turn away from you!
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! Just as I saw Tyre planted in a meadow, so too Ephraim will lead out his children to the murderer.
14 Give to them, YHWH—what do You give? Give to them miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.
Give them—well, Lord, what should you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry 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 of their evil began at Gilgal, and that's where I began to hate them. I will drive them out of my house because of their wickedness. I will love them no longer; all their leaders are rebels.
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, you are blighted, dried up from the roots. You shall bear no fruit. Even if you have children, I will slaughter your beloved offspring.
17 My God rejects them, Because they have not listened to Him, And they are wanderers among nations!”
My God will reject you because you have not listened to him, and you will become homeless wanderers among the nations.
