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, for gladness, as other people; for thou art gone astray, unfaithful to thy God: thou hast loved the wages of sin upon every corn-filled threshing-floor.
2 Floor and winepress do not feed them, And new wine fails in her,
The threshing-floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, and the new wine shall deceive 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 shall not dwell in the land of the Lord; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and in Assyria will they eat unclean things.
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 shall not pour out wine to the Lord, and [their offerings] shall not be pleasing unto him; their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for this their food can only be for themselves, it shall not come 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 ye do on the day of the appointed festival, and on 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.
For, lo, they are gone forth because of the desolation: Egypt will gather them up, Moph will bury them: the pleasant chambers for their silver, —these shall nettles take possession of; thorns shall [grow] 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.
Come are the days of the visitation, come are the days of thy recompense; this shall Israel experience: a fool was the prophet, mad the inspired man, because of the greatness of thy iniquity, and the great hatefulness.
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 with my God, the prophet, was a snare of the fowler on all his ways, a hateful thing 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.
They are deeply corrupt, as in the days of Gib'ah: he will remember their iniquity, he will visit 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.
Like grapes in the wilderness had I found Israel; as the first ripe fruit on the fig-tree in the first of the season had I seen your fathers; but they too went to Ba'al-pe'or: and devoted themselves unto that shameful idol, and became abominations as those they loved.
11 Ephraim [is] as a bird, their glory flies away, without birth, and without womb, and without conception.
As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird: there is no more birth, and no pregnancy, and no 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.
But though they were to bring up their children, yet would I bereave them, that there should be no man: yea, woe also to themselves, when I depart from 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, as I have seen him like Tyre, planted in a pleasant meadow, —yet this Ephraim shall lead forth to the murderer his children.
14 Give to them, YHWH—what do You give? Give to them miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.
Give them, O Lord, what thou wilt give! give them a miscarrying womb and dried-up 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 Gilgal; for there I [learnt to] hate them; for the wickedness of their doings will I drive them out of my house: I will love them no farther; all their princes 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.
Smitten is Ephraim, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; yea, though they should bring forth, yet would I slay the beloved fruit of their body.
17 My God rejects them, Because they have not listened to Him, And they are wanderers among nations!”
My God will reject them, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
