Hosea 9–10

Punishment for Israel

Do not rejoice, Israel;

do not be jubilant^a like the other nations.

For you have been unfaithful^b to your God;

you love the wages of a prostitute^c

at every threshing floor.

Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;

the new wine^d will fail them.

They will not remain^e in the Lord’s land;

Ephraim will return to Egypt^f

and eat unclean food in Assyria.^g

They will not pour out wine offerings^h to the Lord,

nor will their sacrifices pleaseⁱ him.

Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;^j

all who eat them will be unclean.^k

This food will be for themselves;

it will not come into the temple of the Lord.^l

What will you do^m on the day of your appointed festivals,ⁿ

on the festal days of the Lord?

Even if they escape from destruction,

Egypt will gather them,^o

and Memphis^p will bury them.^q

Their treasures of silver^r will be taken over by briers,

and thorns^s will overrun their tents.

The days of punishment^t are coming,

the days of reckoning^u are at hand.

Let Israel know this.

Because your sins^v are so many

and your hostility so great,

the prophet is considered a fool,^w

anyone who is inspired a maniac.^x

The prophet, along with my God,

is the watchman over Ephraim,

yet snares^y await him on all his paths,

and hostility in the house of his God.^z

They have sunk deep into corruption,^a

as in the days of Gibeah.^b

God will remember^c their wickedness

and punish them for their sins.^d

“When I found Israel,

it was like finding grapes in the desert;

when I saw your ancestors,

it was like seeing the early fruit^e on the fig^f tree.

But when they came to Baal Peor,^g

they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol^h

and became as vile as the thing they loved.

Ephraim’s gloryⁱ will fly away like a bird^j—

no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.^k

Even if they rear children,

I will bereave^l them of every one.

Woe^m to them

when I turn away from them!ⁿ

I have seen Ephraim,^o like Tyre,

planted in a pleasant place.^p

But Ephraim will bring out

their children to the slayer.”^q

Give them, Lord—

what will you give them?

Give them wombs that miscarry

and breasts that are dry.^r

“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,^s

I hated them there.

Because of their sinful deeds,^t

I will drive them out of my house.

I will no longer love them;^u

all their leaders are rebellious.^v

Ephraim^w is blighted,

their root is withered,

they yield no fruit.^x

Even if they bear children,

I will slay^y their cherished offspring.”

My God will reject^z them

because they have not obeyed^a him;

they will be wanderers among the nations.^b

Israel was a spreading vine;^c

he brought forth fruit for himself.

As his fruit increased,

he built more altars;^d

as his land prospered,^e

he adorned his sacred stones.^f

Their heart is deceitful,^g

and now they must bear their guilt.^h

The Lord will demolish their altarsⁱ

and destroy their sacred stones.^j

Then they will say, “We have no king

because we did not revere the Lord.

But even if we had a king,

what could he do for us?”

They make many promises,

take false oaths^k

and make agreements;^l

therefore lawsuits spring up

like poisonous weeds^m in a plowed field.

The people who live in Samaria fear

for the calf-idolⁿ of Beth Aven.^o

Its people will mourn over it,

and so will its idolatrous priests,^p

those who had rejoiced over its splendor,

because it is taken from them into exile.^q

It will be carried to Assyria^r

as tribute^s for the great king.^t

Ephraim will be disgraced;^u

Israel will be ashamed^v of its foreign alliances.

Samaria’s king will be destroyed,^w

swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.

The high places^x of wickedness^y will be destroyed—

it is the sin of Israel.

Thorns^z and thistles will grow up

and cover their altars.^a

Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”^b

and to the hills, “Fall on us!”^c

“Since the days of Gibeah,^d you have sinned,^e Israel,

and there you have remained.

Will not war again overtake

the evildoers in Gibeah?

When I please, I will punish^f them;

nations will be gathered against them

to put them in bonds for their double sin.

Ephraim is a trained heifer

that loves to thresh;

so I will put a yoke^g

on her fair neck.

I will drive Ephraim,

Judah must plow,

and Jacob must break up the ground.

Sow^h for yourselves righteousness,ⁱ

reap the fruit of unfailing love,

and break up your unplowed ground;^j

for it is time to seek^k the Lord,

until he comes

and showers his righteousness^l on you.

But you have planted wickedness,

you have reaped evil,^m

you have eaten the fruit of deception.ⁿ

Because you have depended on your own strength

and on your many warriors,^o

the roar of battle will rise against your people,

so that all your fortresses will be devastated^p—

as Shalman^q devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,

when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.^r

So will it happen to you, Bethel,

because your wickedness is great.

When that day dawns,

the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.^s