Hosea 9–10

THE COMING EXILE

9Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do,^ac

for you have acted promiscuously,^ad leaving your God.

You love the wages of a prostitute

on every grain-threshing floor.^ae

²Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them,^af

and the new wine will fail them.

³They will not stay in the land of the Lord.

Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt,^ag

and they will eat unclean food^ah in Assyria.^ai

⁴They will not pour out

their wine offerings to the Lord,^aj

and their sacrifices will not please him.

Their food will be like the bread of mourners;

all who eat it become defiled.^ak

For their bread will be for their appetites alone;

it will not enter the house of the Lord.

⁵What will you do on a festival day,^al

on the day of the Lord’s feast?^am

⁶For even if they flee from devastation,

Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them.^an

Thistles will take possession of their precious silver;

thorns will invade their tents.^ao

⁷The days of punishment have come;^ap

the days of retribution have come.^aq

Let Israel recognize it!

The prophet is a fool,^ar

and the inspired man is insane,^as

because of the magnitude

of your iniquity and hostility.^at

⁸Ephraim’s watchman is with my God.

Yet the prophet encounters a bird trap

on all his pathways.^a

Hostility is in the house of his God!

⁹They have deeply corrupted themselves^b

as in the days of Gibeah.^c

He will remember their iniquity;

he will punish their sins.^d

EPHRAIM BEREAVED OF OFFSPRING

¹⁰I discovered Israel

like grapes in the wilderness.^e

I saw your ancestors

like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season.^f

But they went to Baal-peor,^g

consecrated themselves to Shame,^Ah

and became abhorrent,ⁱ

like the thing they loved.

¹¹Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird:^j

no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.^k

¹²Even if they raise children,

I will bereave them of each one.

Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!^l

¹³I have seen Ephraim like Tyre,^m

planted in a meadow,

so Ephraim will bring out his children

to the executioner.

¹⁴Give them, Lord—

What should you give?

Give them a womb that miscarries

and breasts that are dry!ⁿ

¹⁵All their evil appears at Gilgal,^o

for there I began to hate them.

I will drive them from my house

because of their evil, wicked actions.^p

I will no longer love them;

all their leaders are rebellious.^q

¹⁶Ephraim^r is struck down;

their roots are withered;

they cannot bear fruit.^s

Even if they bear children,

I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.^t

¹⁷My God will reject them

because they have not listened to him;^u

they will become wanderers among the nations.^v

THE VINE AND THE CALF

10Israel is a lush^B vine;^w

it yields fruit for itself.

The more his fruit increased,

the more he increased the altars.^x

The better his land produced,

the better they made the sacred pillars.^y

²Their hearts are devious;^Cz

now they must bear their guilt.^aa

The Lord will break down their altars^ab

and demolish their sacred pillars.

³In fact, they are now saying,

“We have no king!

For we do not fear the Lord.^ac

What can a king do for us?”

⁴They speak mere words,

taking false oaths while making covenants.^ad

So lawsuits break out

like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.^ae

⁵The residents of Samaria^af will have anxiety

over the calf^ag of Beth-aven.^ah

Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it;

the people will mourn over it,

over its glory.^ai

It will certainly go into exile.

⁶The calf itself will be taken to Assyria^aj

as an offering to the great king.^Aak

Ephraim will experience shame;^al

Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.^am

⁷Samaria’s king will disappear^Ban

like foam^C on the surface of the water.

⁸The high places^ao of Aven, the sin of Israel,^ap

will be destroyed;

thorns and thistles will grow over their altars.^aq

They will say to the mountains,^ar “Cover us!”

and to the hills, “Fall on us!”^as

ISRAEL’S DEFEAT BECAUSE OF SIN

⁹Israel, you have sinned

since the days of Gibeah;^at

they have taken their stand there.

Will not war against the unjust

overtake them in Gibeah?

¹⁰I will discipline^au them at my discretion;^av

nations will be gathered against them

to put them in bondage^D

for their double iniquity.^a

¹¹Ephraim is a well-trained calf^b

that loves to thresh,

but I will place a yoke on^E her fine neck.^c

I will harness Ephraim;^d

Judah will plow;

Jacob will do the final plowing.

¹²Sow righteousness for yourselves^e

and reap faithful love;

break up your unplowed ground.^f

It is time to seek the Lord^g

until he comes^h and sends righteousness

on you like the rain.ⁱ

¹³You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;^j

you have eaten the fruit of lies.^k

Because you have trusted in your own way^F

and in your large number of soldiers,^l

¹⁴the roar of battle will rise against your people,

and all your fortifications will be demolished^m

in a day of war,

like Shalman’s destruction of Beth-arbel.

Mothers will be dashed to pieces

along with their children.ⁿ

¹⁵So it will be done to you, Bethel,^o

because of your extreme evil.

At dawn the king of Israel will be totally destroyed.