Hosea 9–12

The Coming Exile

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

for you have acted promiscuously, ^pleaving your God.

You have loved the wages of a prostitute

on every grain-threshing floor. ^q

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

and the new wine will fail them.

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

Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, ^s

and they will eat unclean food ^tin Assyria. ^u

⁴They will not pour out

their wine offerings to the Lord, ^v

and their sacrifices will not please Him.

Their food will be like the bread of mourners;

all who eat it become defiled. ^w

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, ^x

on the day of the Lord’s feast? ^y

⁶For even if they flee from devastation,

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

Thistles will take possession of their precious silver;

thorns will invade their tents. ^a

⁷The days of punishment have come; ^b

the days of retribution have come. ^c

Let Israel recognize it!

The prophet is a fool, ^d

and the inspired man is insane, ^e

because of the magnitude

of your guilt and hostility. ^f

⁸Ephraim’s watchman is with my God.

The prophet encounters a fowler’s snare

on all his ways. ^g

Hostility is in the house of his God!

⁹They have deeply corrupted themselves ^h

as in the days of Gibeah. ⁱ

He will remember their guilt;

He will punish their sins. ^j

Ephraim Bereaved of Offspring

¹⁰I discovered Israel

like grapes in the wilderness. ^k

I saw your fathers

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

But they went to Baal-peor, ^m

consecrated themselves to Shame, ^no

and became detestable, ^p

like the thing they loved.

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

no birth, no gestation, no conception. ^r

¹²Even if they raise children,

I will bereave them of each one.

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

¹³I have seen Ephraim like Tyre, ^t

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! ^u

¹⁵All their evil appears at Gilgal, ^v

for there I came to hate them.

I will drive them from My house

because of their evil, wicked actions. ^w

I will no longer love them;

all their leaders are rebellious. ^x

¹⁶Ephraim ^yis struck down;

their roots are withered;

they cannot bear fruit. ^z

Even if they bear children,

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

¹⁷My God will reject them

because they have not listened to Him; ^b

they will become wanderers among the nations. ^c

The Vine and the Calf

10Israel is a lush ^dvine; ^e

it yields fruit for itself.

The more his fruit increased,

the more he increased the altars. ^f

The better his land produced,

the better they made the sacred pillars. ^g

²Their hearts are devious; ^hi

now they must bear their guilt. ^j

The Lord will break down their altars ^k

and demolish their sacred pillars.

³In fact, they are now saying,

“We have no king!

For we do not fear the Lord. ^l

What can a king do for us?”

⁴They speak mere words,

taking false oaths while making covenants. ^m

So lawsuits break out

like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field. ⁿ

⁵The residents of Samaria ^owill have anxiety

over the calf ^pof Beth-aven. ^q

Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it;

the people will mourn over it,

over its glory. ^r

It will certainly depart from them.

⁶The calf itself will be taken to Assyria ^s

as an offering to the great king. ^tu

Ephraim will experience shame; ^v

Israel will be ashamed of its counsel. ^w

⁷Samaria’s king will disappear ^xy

like foam ^zon the surface of the water.

⁸The high places ^aof Aven, the sin of Israel, ^b

will be destroyed;

thorns and thistles will grow over their altars. ^c

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

and to the hills, “Fall on us!” ^e

Israel’s Defeat because of Sin

⁹Israel, you have sinned

since the days of Gibeah; ^f

they have taken their stand there.

Will not war against the unjust

overtake them in Gibeah?

¹⁰I will discipline ^gthem at My discretion; ^h

nations will be gathered against them

to put them in bondage ⁱ

for their two crimes. ^j

¹¹Ephraim is a well-trained calf ^k

that loves to thresh,

but I will place a yoke on ^lher fine neck. ^m

I will harness Ephraim; ⁿ

Judah will plow;

Jacob will do the final plowing.

¹²Sow righteousness for yourselves ^o

and reap faithful love;

break up your unplowed ground. ^p

It is time to seek the Lord ^q

until He comes ^rand sends righteousness

on you like the rain. ^s

¹³You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; ^t

you have eaten the fruit of lies. ^u

Because you have trusted in your own way ^v

and in your large number of soldiers, ^w

¹⁴the roar of battle will rise against your people,

and all your fortifications will be demolished ^x

in a day of war,

like Shalman’s destruction of Beth-arbel.

Mothers will be dashed to pieces

along with their children. ^y

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

because of your extreme evil.

At dawn the king of Israel will be totally destroyed.

The Lord’s Love for Israel

11When Israel was a child, I loved him, ^a

and out of Egypt I called My son. ^b

²The more they ^ccalled them, ^de

the more they ^fdeparted from Me. ^g

They kept sacrificing to the Baals ^h

and burning offerings to idols. ⁱ

³It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, ^j

taking them ^kin My arms, ^l

but they never knew that I healed them. ^m

⁴I led them with human cords,

with ropes of love. ⁿ

To them I was like one

who eases the yoke from their jaws; ^o

I bent down to give them food. ^p

⁵Israel will not return to the land of Egypt

and Assyria will be his king, ^q

because they refused to repent. ^r

⁶A sword will whirl through his cities; ^s

it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates, ^tu

because of their schemes. ^v

⁷My people are bent on turning from Me. ^w

Though they call to Him on high,

He will not exalt them at all.

⁸How can I give you up, Ephraim? ^x

How can I surrender you, Israel?

How can I make you like Admah? ^y

How can I treat you like Zeboiim? ^z

I have had a change of heart;

My compassion is stirred!

⁹I will not vent the full fury of My anger; ^a

I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. ^b

For I am God and not man,

the Holy One among you; ^c

I will not come in rage. ^d

¹⁰They will follow the Lord; ^e

He will roar like a lion. ^f

When He roars,

His children will come trembling from the west. ^g

¹¹They will be roused like birds from Egypt

and like doves ^hfrom the land of Assyria. ⁱ

Then I will settle them in their homes. ^j

This is the Lord’s declaration.

^12k Ephraim surrounds me with lies, ^l

the house of Israel, with deceit.

Judah still wanders with God

and is faithful to the holy ones. ^mn

God’s Case against Jacob’s Heirs

12Ephraim chases ^othe wind ^p

and pursues the east wind. ^q

He continually multiplies lies and violence.

He makes a covenant with Assyria, ^r

and olive oil is carried to Egypt. ^s

²The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.

He is about to punish Jacob according to his ways; ^t

He will repay him based on his actions.

³In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, ^u

and as an adult he wrestled with God. ^v

⁴Jacob struggled with the Angel and prevailed;

he wept and sought His favor. ^w

He found him ^xat Bethel, ^y

and there He spoke with him. ^za

⁵Yahweh is the God of Hosts;

Yahweh is His name. ^b

⁶But you must return to your God. ^c

Maintain love and justice, ^d

and always put your hope in God. ^e

⁷A merchant loves to extort ^f

with dishonest scales in his hands. ^g

⁸But Ephraim says:

“How rich I have become; ^h

I made it all myself.

In all my earnings,

no one can find any crime in me ⁱ

that I can be punished for!” ^j

Judgment on Apostate Israel

⁹I have been Yahweh your God

ever since ^kthe land of Egypt. ^l

I will make you live in tents again, ^m

as in the festival days.

¹⁰I spoke through the prophets ⁿ

and granted many visions;

I gave parables through the prophets. ^o

¹¹Since Gilead is full of evil, ^p

they will certainly come to nothing.

They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal; ^q

even their altars will be like heaps of rocks ^r

on the furrows of a field.

Further Indictment of Jacob’s Heirs

¹²Jacob fled to the land of Aram. ^s

Israel worked to earn a wife; ^t

he tended flocks for a wife. ^u

¹³The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet, ^v

and Israel was tended by a prophet.

¹⁴Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, ^w

so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him ^x

and repay him for his contempt. ^y