Hosea 9

1 Rejoice not too loudly, Israel, like the nations, for you have commited adultery, being untrue to your God. You have loved a prostitute’s wages on every threshing floor.

“Do not rejoice, O Israel, do not be joyful like the peoples, For you have gone whoring from your God, You have loved a wage near all floors of grain.

2 Threshing floor and wine vat won’t feed them, the new wine will fail them.

Floor and winepress do not feed them, And new wine fails in her,

3 They will not stay in the Lord’s land, but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat what is unclean.

They do not abide in the land of YHWH, And Ephraim has turned back [to] Egypt, And they eat an unclean thing in Asshur.

4 They will not pour out libations of wine to the Lord, nor please him with their sacrifices. Their bread will be like the bread of mourners: all who eat it will defile themselves. For their bread will be only for their hunger, it will not come into the Lord’s temple.

They do not pour out wine to YHWH, Nor are they sweet to Him, Their sacrifices [are] as bread of mourners to them, All eating it are unclean: For their bread [is] for themselves, It does not come into the house of YHWH.

5 What will you do on the day of the festival? Or on the day of the Lord’s feast?

What do you do at the day appointed? And at the day of YHWH’s festival?

6 Even if they flee from destruction, Egypt will gather them, Memphis will bury them. Nettles will take possession of their treasure of silver, thorns will push into their tents.

For behold, they have gone because of destruction, Egypt gathers them, Moph buries them, The desirable things of their silver, Nettles possess them—a thorn [is] in their tents.

7 The days of punishment are come, the days of recompense are at hand, as soon the Israelites will know! ‘The prophet is a fool, the inspired man is raving mad!’ It is because of the greatness of your iniquity and the greatness of your hatred.

The days of inspection have come in, The days of repayment have come in, Israel knows! The prophet [is] a fool, Mad [is] the man of the spirit, Because of the abundance of your iniquity, And great [is] the hatred.

8 Ephraim acts the spy with my God, a prophet finds the snares of a fowler are in all his ways. In the house of his God they lay hostile plots,

Ephraim is looking [away] from My God, The prophet! A snare of a fowler [is] over all his ways, Hatred [is] in the house of his God.

9 they commit crimes as in the days of Gibeah, God will remember their iniquity. He will punish their sin.

They have gone deep—have done corruptly, As [in] the days of Gibeah, He remembers their iniquity, He inspects their sins.

10 I found Israel like finding grapes in the wilderness. I saw your ancestors like they were the first fruit on a fig tree, but as soon as they came to Baal-peor, they consecrated themselves to shamefulness, and became as abominable as the object of their love.

As grapes in a wilderness I found Israel, As the first-fruit in a fig tree, at its beginning, I have seen your fathers, They have gone in [to] Ba‘al-Peor, And are separated to a shameful thing, And have become abominable like their love.

11 Ephraim – like a bird his glory flies away. There will be no more birth, no more motherhood, no more conception.

Ephraim [is] as a bird, their glory flies away, without birth, and without womb, and without conception.

12 Even though they bring up their children, I will bereave them until not one is left. Woe to them when I turn away from them!

For though they nourish their sons, I have made them childless—without man, Surely also, woe to them when I turn aside from them.

13 Ephraim – planted like Tyre in a meadow, But Ephraim too must lead forth their children to slaughter.

Ephraim! When I have looked to the rock, Is planted in comeliness, And Ephraim [is] to bring out his sons to a slayer.

14 Give them, Lord – what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and shrivelled up breasts!

Give to them, YHWH—what do You give? Give to them miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.

15 All their evil began in Gilgal, there I learned to hate them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them, for all their princes are rebels.

All their evil [is] in Gilgal, Surely there I have hated them, Because of the evil of their doings, Out of My house I drive them, I no longer love them, All their heads [are] apostates.

16 Ephraim is blighted, their root withered. If they do bear children, I will slay the darlings of their womb,

Ephraim has been struck, Their root has dried up, they do not yield fruit, Indeed, though they bring forth, I have put to death the desired of their womb.

17 My God will reject them because they have not listened to him, and they will become wanderers among the nations.

My God rejects them, Because they have not listened to Him, And they are wanderers among nations!”