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, Exult not, like the nations! For thou committest fornication, forsaking thy God! Thou lovest hire on every corn-floor.

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

The floor and the vat 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 Jehovah; To Egypt shall Ephraim go back, And eat unclean things 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.

They shall pour out no offerings of wine to Jehovah, Nor shall their sacrifices please him; They shall be to them as the bread of mourners; All that eat thereof shall be polluted. Their bread shall be for their own hunger; It shall not come into the house of Jehovah.

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

What will ye do in the festal day, In the day of the feast of Jehovah?

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, behold, they go forth from a wasted land; Egypt shall gather them; Memphis shall bury them; The precious places of their silver, Nettles shall possess them; Thorns shall spring up in their habitations.

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 visitation are come; The days of retribution are come— Israel shall know that the prophet was foolish, That the man of the spirit was mad— For the greatness of` thy iniquity, and thy great hatred.

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.

If Ephraim seek an answer from my God, The prophet is as the snare of the fowler in all his ways, A net 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 have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their iniquity; He will requite 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; As the early fruit on the fig-tree, at its first time of bearing, I saw your fathers. But they went to Baal Peor, And separated themselves to shame, And had abominable idols according to their love.

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

The glory of Ephraim shall fly away as a bird; They shall not bring forth, nor bear in the womb, nor conceive;

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.

Yea, if they bring up children, I will utterly bereave them; Yea, woe to them 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.

I have seen Ephraim planted, like Tyre, in a rich pasture, Yet shall Ephraim bring 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, O Jehovah! What wilt thou give them? 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 Gilgal; Yea, there have I hated them for the wickedness of their doings; I will drive them from my house; I will love them no more; All their princes are revolters.

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 smitten; Their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit; Yea, though they should beget children, I will destroy the beloved fruit of the womb.

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

My God shall cast them away, Because they have not hearkened to him, And they shall be wanderers among the nations.