Hosea 9

The Coming Exile

¹Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do, ^a

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

You love the wages of a prostitute

on every grain-threshing floor. ^c

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

and the new wine will fail them.

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

Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, ^e

and they will eat unclean food ^f in Assyria. ^g

⁴They will not pour out

their wine offerings to the Lord, ^h

and their sacrifices will not please him.

Their food will be like the bread of mourners;

all who eat it become defiled. ⁱ

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, ^j

on the day of the Lord’s feast? ^k

⁶For even if they flee from devastation,

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

Thistles will take possession of their precious silver;

thorns will invade their tents. ^m

⁷The days of punishment have come; ⁿ

the days of retribution have come. ^o

Let Israel recognize it!

The prophet is a fool, ^p

and the inspired man is insane, ^q

because of the magnitude

of your iniquity and hostility. ^r

⁸Ephraim’s watchman is with my God.

Yet the prophet encounters a bird trap

on all his pathways. ^s

Hostility is in the house of his God!

⁹They have deeply corrupted themselves ^t

as in the days of Gibeah. ^u

He will remember their iniquity;

he will punish their sins. ^v

Ephraim Bereaved of Offspring

¹⁰I discovered Israel

like grapes in the wilderness. ^w

I saw your ancestors

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

But they went to Baal-peor, ^y

consecrated themselves to Shame, ^z,^aa

and became abhorrent, ^ab

like the thing they loved.

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

no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. ^ad

¹²Even if they raise children,

I will bereave them of each one.

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

¹³I have seen Ephraim like Tyre, ^af

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! ^ag

¹⁵All their evil appears at Gilgal, ^ah

for there I began to hate them.

I will drive them from my house

because of their evil, wicked actions. ^ai

I will no longer love them;

all their leaders are rebellious. ^aj

¹⁶Ephraim ^ak is struck down;

their roots are withered;

they cannot bear fruit. ^al

Even if they bear children,

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

¹⁷My God will reject them

because they have not listened to him; ^an

they will become wanderers among the nations. ^ao