The Lord Will Punish Israel

Rejoice not, O Israel!
    Exult not like the peoples;
(A)for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
    (B)You have loved a prostitute's wages
    on all threshing floors.
(C)Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
    and (D)the new wine shall fail them.
They shall not remain in (E)the land of the Lord,
    but (F)Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
    and (G)they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.

(H)They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
    (I)and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like (J)mourners' bread to them;
    all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
    (K)it shall not come to the house of the Lord.

(L)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
    and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
For behold, they are going away from destruction;
    but (M)Egypt shall gather them;
    Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess (N)their precious things of silver;
    (O)thorns shall be in their tents.

(P)The days of punishment have come;
    the days of recompense have come;
    Israel shall know it.
(Q)The prophet is a fool;
    the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
    and great hatred.
The prophet is (R)the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet (S)a fowler's snare is on all his ways,
    and hatred in the house of his God.
(T)They have deeply corrupted themselves
    as (U)in the days of Gibeah:
(V)he will remember their iniquity;
    he will punish their sins.

10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
    (W)I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
    in its first season,
    I saw your fathers.
But (X)they came to Baal-peor
    and (Y)consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
    and (Z)became detestable like the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim's (AA)glory shall fly away like a bird—
    (AB)no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 (AC)Even if they bring up children,
    I will bereave them till none is left.
(AD)Woe to them
    when (AE)I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, (AF)as I have seen, was like a young palm[a] planted in a meadow;
    but (AG)Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.[b]
14 Give them, O Lord
    what will you give?
Give them (AH)a miscarrying womb
    and dry breasts.

15 Every evil of theirs is in (AI)Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
    all (AJ)their princes are (AK)rebels.

16 Ephraim is stricken;
    (AL)their root is dried up;
    they shall bear no fruit.
Even (AM)though they give birth,
    (AN)I will put their beloved children to death.
17 (AO)My God will reject them
    because they have not listened to him;
    (AP)they shall be wanderers among the nations.

10 (AQ)Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
    (AR)the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
    he improved his pillars.
Their heart is false;
    now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord[c] will break down their altars
    and destroy their pillars.

For now they will say:
    (AS)“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
They utter (AT)mere words;
    with empty[d] oaths they make covenants;
so (AU)judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    (AV)in the furrows of the field.
The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
    for (AW)the calf[e] of (AX)Beth-aven.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
    those who rejoiced over it and (AY)over its glory—
    for it has departed[f] from them.
(AZ)The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
    as tribute to (BA)the great king.[g]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed (BB)of his idol.[h]

(BC)Samaria's king shall perish
    like a twig on the face of the waters.
The high places of (BD)Aven, (BE)the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
(BF)Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
and (BG)they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

From (BH)the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not the war against the unjust[i] overtake them in Gibeah?
10 (BI)When I please, (BJ)I will discipline them,
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are bound up for (BK)their double iniquity.

11 Ephraim was a trained calf
    that (BL)loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put (BM)Ephraim to the yoke;
    (BN)Judah must plow;
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
12 (BO)Sow for yourselves righteousness;
    reap steadfast love;
    (BP)break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
    that he may come and (BQ)rain righteousness upon you.

13 (BR)You have plowed iniquity;
    you have reaped injustice;
    you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
    and in the multitude of your warriors,
14 therefore (BS)the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as (BT)Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
    (BU)mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O (BV)Bethel,
    because of your great evil.
At dawn (BW)the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:13 Or like Tyre
  2. Hosea 9:13 Hebrew to him who slaughters
  3. Hosea 10:2 Hebrew He
  4. Hosea 10:4 Or vain (see Exodus 20:7)
  5. Hosea 10:5 Or calves
  6. Hosea 10:5 Or has gone into exile
  7. Hosea 10:6 Or to King Jareb
  8. Hosea 10:6 Or counsel
  9. Hosea 10:9 Hebrew the children of injustice

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 please(I) 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 feast 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)
    the inspired person a maniac.(X)
The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,[a]
yet snares(Y) await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.(Z)
They have sunk deep into corruption,(AA)
    as in the days of Gibeah.(AB)
God will remember(AC) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.(AD)

10 “When I found Israel,
    it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
    it was like seeing the early fruit(AE) on the fig(AF) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,(AG)
    they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol(AH)
    and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory(AI) will fly away like a bird(AJ)
    no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(AK)
12 Even if they rear children,
    I will bereave(AL) them of every one.
Woe(AM) to them
    when I turn away from them!(AN)
13 I have seen Ephraim,(AO) like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place.(AP)
But Ephraim will bring out
    their children to the slayer.”(AQ)

14 Give them, Lord
    what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
    and breasts that are dry.(AR)

15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,(AS)
    I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,(AT)
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;(AU)
    all their leaders are rebellious.(AV)
16 Ephraim(AW) is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.(AX)
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay(AY) their cherished offspring.”

17 My God will reject(AZ) them
    because they have not obeyed(BA) him;
    they will be wanderers among the nations.(BB)

10 Israel was a spreading vine;(BC)
    he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
    he built more altars;(BD)
as his land prospered,(BE)
    he adorned his sacred stones.(BF)
Their heart is deceitful,(BG)
    and now they must bear their guilt.(BH)
The Lord will demolish their altars(BI)
    and destroy their sacred stones.(BJ)

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(BK)
    and make agreements;(BL)
therefore lawsuits spring up
    like poisonous weeds(BM) in a plowed field.
The people who live in Samaria fear
    for the calf-idol(BN) of Beth Aven.[b](BO)
Its people will mourn over it,
    and so will its idolatrous priests,(BP)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
    because it is taken from them into exile.(BQ)
It will be carried to Assyria(BR)
    as tribute(BS) for the great king.(BT)
Ephraim will be disgraced;(BU)
    Israel will be ashamed(BV) of its foreign alliances.
Samaria’s king will be destroyed,(BW)
    swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
The high places(BX) of wickedness[c](BY) will be destroyed—
    it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns(BZ) and thistles will grow up
    and cover their altars.(CA)
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”(CB)
    and to the hills, “Fall on us!”(CC)

“Since the days of Gibeah,(CD) you have sinned,(CE) Israel,
    and there you have remained.[d]
Will not war again overtake
    the evildoers in Gibeah?
10 When I please, I will punish(CF) them;
    nations will be gathered against them
    to put them in bonds for their double sin.
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer
    that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke(CG)
    on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
    Judah must plow,
    and Jacob must break up the ground.
12 Sow(CH) righteousness(CI) for yourselves,
    reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;(CJ)
    for it is time to seek(CK) the Lord,
until he comes
    and showers his righteousness(CL) on you.
13 But you have planted wickedness,
    you have reaped evil,(CM)
    you have eaten the fruit of deception.(CN)
Because you have depended on your own strength
    and on your many warriors,(CO)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
    so that all your fortresses will be devastated(CP)
as Shalman(CQ) devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
    when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.(CR)
15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,
    because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
    the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.(CS)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God
  2. Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
  3. Hosea 10:8 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5.
  4. Hosea 10:9 Or there a stand was taken

Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.

The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.

They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.

They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord.

What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord?

For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.

The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.

The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.

They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.

10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.

12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!

13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.

14 Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.

16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.

17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

10 Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord; what then should a king do to us?

They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.

It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.

The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.

10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.

11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.

12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.

15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.