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Hosea 9-12
New King James Version
Hosea 9-12
New King James Version
Judgment of Israel’s Sin
9 Do(A) not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples,
For you have played the harlot against your God.
You have made love for (B)hire on every threshing floor.
2 The threshing floor and the winepress
Shall not feed them,
And the new wine shall fail in her.
3 They shall not dwell in (C)the Lord’s land,
(D)But Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
And (E)shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord,
Nor (F)shall their (G)sacrifices be pleasing to Him.
It shall be like bread of mourners to them;
All who eat it shall be defiled.
For their bread shall be for their own life;
It shall not come into the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do in the appointed day,
And in the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For indeed they are gone because of destruction.
Egypt shall gather them up;
Memphis shall bury them.
(H)Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver;
Thorns shall be in their tents.
7 The (I)days of punishment have come;
The days of recompense have come.
Israel knows!
The prophet is a (J)fool,
(K)The spiritual man is insane,
Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.
8 The (L)watchman of Ephraim is with my God;
But the prophet is a [a]fowler’s snare in all his ways—
Enmity in the house of his God.
9 (M)They are deeply corrupted,
As in the days of (N)Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity;
He will punish their sins.
10 “I found Israel
Like grapes in the (O)wilderness;
I saw your fathers
As the (P)firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.
But they went to (Q)Baal Peor,
And [b]separated themselves to that shame;
(R)They became an abomination like the thing they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird—
No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
12 Though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them to the last man.
Yes, (S)woe to them when I depart from them!
13 Just (T)as I saw Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place,
So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.”
14 Give them, O Lord—
What will You give?
Give them (U)a miscarrying womb
And dry breasts!
15 “All their wickedness is in (V)Gilgal,
For there I hated them.
Because of the evil of their deeds
I will drive them from My house;
I will love them no more.
(W)All their princes are rebellious.
16 Ephraim is (X)stricken,
Their root is dried up;
They shall bear no fruit.
Yes, were they to bear children,
I would kill the darlings of their womb.”
17 My God will (Y)cast them away,
Because they did not obey Him;
And they shall be (Z)wanderers among the nations.
Israel’s Sin and Captivity
10 Israel (AA)empties his vine;
He brings forth fruit for himself.
According to the multitude of his fruit
(AB)He has increased the altars;
According to the bounty of his land
They have embellished his sacred pillars.
2 Their heart is (AC)divided;[c]
Now they are held guilty.
He will break down their altars;
He will ruin their sacred pillars.
3 For now they say,
“We have no king,
Because we did not fear the Lord.
And as for a king, what would he do for us?”
4 They have spoken words,
Swearing falsely in making a covenant.
Thus judgment springs up (AD)like hemlock in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria fear
Because of the (AE)calf[d] of Beth Aven.
For its people mourn for it,
And [e]its priests shriek for it—
Because its (AF)glory has departed from it.
6 The idol also shall be carried to Assyria
As a present for King (AG)Jareb.
Ephraim shall receive shame,
And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off
Like a twig on the water.
8 Also the (AH)high places of [f]Aven, (AI)the sin of Israel,
Shall be destroyed.
The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars;
(AJ)They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 “O Israel, you have sinned from the days of (AK)Gibeah;
There they stood.
The (AL)battle in Gibeah against the children of [g]iniquity
Did not [h]overtake them.
10 When it is My desire, I will chasten them.
(AM)Peoples shall be gathered against them
When I bind them [i]for their two transgressions.
11 Ephraim is (AN)a trained heifer
That loves to thresh grain;
But I harnessed her fair neck,
I will make Ephraim [j]pull a plow.
Judah shall plow;
Jacob shall break his clods.”
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
(AO)Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He (AP)comes and rains righteousness on you.
13 (AQ)You have plowed wickedness;
You have reaped iniquity.
You have eaten the fruit of lies,
Because you trusted in your own way,
In the multitude of your mighty men.
14 Therefore tumult shall arise among your people,
And all your fortresses shall be plundered
As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle—
A mother dashed in pieces upon her children.
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
Because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
Shall be cut off utterly.
God’s Continuing Love for Israel
11 “When Israel was a [k]child, I loved him,
And out of Egypt (AR)I called My (AS)son.
2 [l]As they called them,
So they (AT)went [m]from them;
They sacrificed to the Baals,
And burned incense to carved images.
3 “I(AU) taught Ephraim to walk,
Taking them by [n]their arms;
But they did not know that (AV)I healed them.
4 I drew them with [o]gentle cords,
With bands of love,
And (AW)I was to them as those who take the yoke from their [p]neck.
(AX)I stooped and fed them.
5 “He shall not return to the land of Egypt;
But the Assyrian shall be his king,
Because they refused to repent.
6 And the sword shall slash in his cities,
Devour his districts,
And consume them,
Because of their own counsels.
7 My people are bent on (AY)backsliding from Me.
Though [q]they call [r]to the Most High,
None at all exalt Him.
8 “How(AZ) can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like (BA)Admah?
How can I set you like Zeboiim?
My heart [s]churns within Me;
My sympathy is stirred.
9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
(BB)For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in your midst;
And I will not [t]come with terror.
10 “They shall walk after the Lord.
(BC)He will roar like a lion.
When He roars,
Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;
11 They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,
(BD)Like a dove from the land of Assyria.
(BE)And I will let them dwell in their houses,”
Says the Lord.
God’s Charge Against Ephraim
12 “Ephraim has encircled Me with lies,
And the house of Israel with deceit;
But Judah still walks with God,
Even with the [u]Holy One who is faithful.
Ephraim’s Sins Rebuked by God
12 “Ephraim (BF)feeds on the wind,
And pursues the east wind;
He daily increases lies and [v]desolation.
(BG)Also they make a [w]covenant with the Assyrians,
And (BH)oil is carried to Egypt.
2 “The(BI) Lord also brings a [x]charge against Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
According to his deeds He will recompense him.
3 He took his brother (BJ)by the heel in the womb,
And in his strength he (BK)struggled with God.
4 Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
He wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in (BL)Bethel,
And there He spoke to us—
5 That is, the Lord God of hosts.
The Lord is His (BM)memorable name.
6 (BN)So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait on your God continually.
7 “A cunning [y]Canaanite!
(BO)Deceitful scales are in his hand;
He loves to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said,
(BP)‘Surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors
They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’
9 “But I am the Lord your God,
Ever since the land of Egypt;
(BQ)I will again make you dwell in tents,
As in the days of the appointed feast.
10 (BR)I have also spoken by the prophets,
And have multiplied visions;
I have given [z]symbols [aa]through the witness of the prophets.”
11 Though (BS)Gilead has idols—
Surely they are [ab]vanity—
Though they sacrifice bulls in (BT)Gilgal,
Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.
12 Jacob (BU)fled to the country of Syria;
(BV)Israel served for a spouse,
And for a wife he tended sheep.
13 (BW)By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
And by a prophet he was preserved.
14 Ephraim (BX)provoked Him to anger most bitterly;
Therefore his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him,
(BY)And return his reproach upon him.
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:8 One who catches birds in a trap or snare
- Hosea 9:10 Or dedicated
- Hosea 10:2 Divided in loyalty
- Hosea 10:5 Lit. calves, images
- Hosea 10:5 idolatrous priests
- Hosea 10:8 Lit. Idolatry or Wickedness
- Hosea 10:9 So with many Heb. mss., LXX, Vg.; MT unruliness
- Hosea 10:9 Or overcome
- Hosea 10:10 Or in their two habitations
- Hosea 10:11 Lit. to ride
- Hosea 11:1 Or youth
- Hosea 11:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX Just as I called them; Tg. interprets as I sent prophets to a thousand of them.
- Hosea 11:2 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX from My face
- Hosea 11:3 Some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. My arms
- Hosea 11:4 Lit. cords of a man
- Hosea 11:4 Lit. jaws
- Hosea 11:7 The prophets
- Hosea 11:7 Or upward
- Hosea 11:8 Lit. turns over
- Hosea 11:9 Or enter a city
- Hosea 11:12 Or holy ones
- Hosea 12:1 ruin
- Hosea 12:1 Or treaty
- Hosea 12:2 A legal complaint
- Hosea 12:7 Or merchant
- Hosea 12:10 Or parables
- Hosea 12:10 Lit. by the hand
- Hosea 12:11 worthless
Hosea 9-12
New International Version
Hosea 9-12
New International Version
Punishment for Israel
9 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.
2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine(D) will fail them.
3 They will not remain(E) in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt(F)
and eat unclean food in Assyria.(G)
4 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)
5 What will you do(M) on the day of your appointed festivals,(N)
on the feast days of the Lord?
6 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.
7 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)
8 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)
9 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)
2 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)
3 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?”
4 They make many promises,
take false oaths(BK)
and make agreements;(BL)
therefore lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weeds(BM) in a plowed field.
5 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)
6 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.
7 Samaria’s king will be destroyed,(BW)
swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8 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)
9 “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)
God’s Love for Israel
11 “When Israel was a child,(CT) I loved(CU) him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.(CV)
2 But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.[e](CW)
They sacrificed to the Baals(CX)
and they burned incense to images.(CY)
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;(CZ)
but they did not realize
it was I who healed(DA) them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.(DB)
To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed(DC) them.(DD)
5 “Will they not return to Egypt(DE)
and will not Assyria(DF) rule over them
because they refuse to repent?(DG)
6 A sword(DH) will flash in their cities;
it will devour(DI) their false prophets
and put an end to their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn(DJ) from me.(DK)
Even though they call me God Most High,
I will by no means exalt them.
8 “How can I give you up,(DL) Ephraim?(DM)
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?(DN)
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion(DO) is aroused.(DP)
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,(DQ)
nor will I devastate(DR) Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man(DS)—
the Holy One(DT) among you.
I will not come against their cities.
10 They will follow the Lord;
he will roar(DU) like a lion.(DV)
When he roars,
his children will come trembling(DW) from the west.(DX)
11 They will come from Egypt,
trembling like sparrows,
from Assyria,(DY) fluttering like doves.(DZ)
I will settle them in their homes,”(EA)
declares the Lord.
Israel’s Sin
12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,(EB)
Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful(EC) Holy One.[f](ED)
12 [g]1 Ephraim(EE) feeds on the wind;(EF)
he pursues the east wind all day
and multiplies lies and violence.(EG)
He makes a treaty with Assyria(EH)
and sends olive oil to Egypt.(EI)
2 The Lord has a charge(EJ) to bring against Judah;(EK)
he will punish(EL) Jacob[h] according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.(EM)
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;(EN)
as a man he struggled(EO) with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel(EP)
and talked with him there—
5 the Lord God Almighty,
the Lord is his name!(EQ)
6 But you must return(ER) to your God;
maintain love and justice,(ES)
and wait for your God always.(ET)
7 The merchant uses dishonest scales(EU)
and loves to defraud.
8 Ephraim boasts,(EV)
“I am very rich; I have become wealthy.(EW)
With all my wealth they will not find in me
any iniquity or sin.”
9 “I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt;(EX)
I will make you live in tents(EY) again,
as in the days of your appointed festivals.
10 I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables(EZ) through them.”(FA)
11 Is Gilead wicked?(FB)
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?(FC)
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.(FD)
12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram[i];(FE)
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.(FF)
13 The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,(FG)
by a prophet he cared for him.(FH)
14 But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed(FI)
and will repay him for his contempt.(FJ)
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God
- Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 10:8 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5.
- Hosea 10:9 Or there a stand was taken
- Hosea 11:2 Septuagint; Hebrew them
- Hosea 11:12 In Hebrew texts this verse (11:12) is numbered 12:1.
- Hosea 12:1 In Hebrew texts 12:1-14 is numbered 12:2-15.
- Hosea 12:2 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.
- Hosea 12:12 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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