Hosea 9

The Sadness of Exile

9 <1> Israel, don't celebrate like the nations do. Don't be happy. You acted like a prostitute and left your God. You committed your sexual sin[74] on every threshing[75] floor. <2> But the grain from those threshing floors will not provide enough food for Israel. There will not be enough wine for Israel.

<3> The Israelites will not stay in the Lord's land. Ephraim[76] will return to Egypt. In Assyria they will eat food that they should not eat. <4> The Israelites will not give offerings of wine to the Lord. They will not offer sacrifices to him. Their sacrifices will be like food eaten at a funeral[77]-whoever eats it will become unclean. Their bread will not go into the Lord's Temple-they will have to eat that bread by themselves. <5> They will not be able to celebrate the Lord's feasts or festivals.[78]

<6> The people of Israel left because the enemy took everything from them. But Egypt will take the people themselves. Memphis[79] will bury them. Weeds will grow over their silver treasures, and thorns will grow where the Israelites lived.

Israel Rejected the True Prophets

<7> The prophet says, "Israel, learn this: The time of punishment has come. The time has come for you to pay for the evil things you did." But the people of Israel say, "The prophet is a fool. This man with [God's] Spirit is crazy." The prophet says, "You will be punished for your bad sins. You will be punished for your hate." <8> God and the prophet are like guards watching over Ephraim,[80] but there are many traps along his way. And people hate the prophet, even in the house of his God.

<9> The Israelites have gone deep into ruin as in the time of Gibeah.[81] The Lord will remember the Israelites' sins, and he will punish their sins.

Israel Is Ruined by Its Worship of Idols

<10> "At the time I (the Lord) found Israel, they were like fresh grapes in the desert. They were like the first figs on a fig tree at the beginning of the season. But when they came to Baal-Peor,[82] they changed. So I had to cut them off like rotten fruit.[83] They became like the terrible things that they loved.

The Israelites Will Have No Children

<11> "Like a bird, Ephraim's[84] glory will fly away. There will be no more pregnancies, no more births, and no more babies. <12> But even if the Israelites do raise their children, it will not help, because I will take the children away from them. I will leave them, and they will have nothing but troubles."

<13> I can see that Ephraim is leading his children into a trap. Ephraim will lead his children out to the killer. <14> Lord, give them what you will. Give them a womb that loses babies and breasts that cannot give milk.

<15> All their evil is in Gilgal[85];

I began hating them there.

I will force them to leave my house

because of the evil things they do.

I will not love them any more.

Their leaders are rebels who turned against me.

<16> Ephraim will be punished.

Their root is dying.

They will not have any more babies.

They might give birth to babies,

but I will kill the precious babies who come from their bodies.

<17> Those people will not listen to my God,

so he will refuse to listen to them.

And they will wander among the nations without a home.