Hosea 9

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