Israel Will Be Punished
9 Israel, don't celebrate
or make noisy shouts[a]
like other nations.
You have been unfaithful
to your God.
Wherever grain is threshed,
you behave like prostitutes
because you enjoy
the money you receive.[b]
2 But you will run short
of grain and wine,
3 and you will have to leave
the land of the Lord.
Some of you will go to Egypt;
others will go to Assyria
and eat unclean food.
4 You won't be able to offer
sacrifices of wine
to the Lord.
None of your sacrifices
will please him—
they will be unclean
like food offered to the dead.
Your food will only be used
to satisfy your hunger;
none of it will be brought
to the Lord's temple.
5 You will no longer be able
to celebrate the festival
of the Lord.[c]
6 Even if you escape alive,
you will end up in Egypt
and be buried in Memphis.[d]
Your silver treasures
will be lost among weeds;[e]
thorns will sprout in your tents.
7 (A) Israel, the time has come.
You will get what you deserve,
and you will know it.
“Prophets are fools,” you say.
“And God's messengers
are crazy.”
Your terrible guilt
has filled you with hatred.
8 Israel, the Lord sent me
to look after you.[f]
But you trap his prophets
and flood his temple
with your hatred.
9 (B) You are brutal and corrupt,
as were the men of Gibeah.[g]
But God remembers your sin,
and you will be punished.
Sin's Terrible Results
10 (C) Israel, when I, the Lord,
found you long ago
it was like finding
grapes in a barren desert
or tender young figs.
Then you worshiped Baal Peor,
that disgusting idol,
and you became as disgusting
as the idol you loved.
11 And so, Israel, your glory
will fly away like birds—
your women will no longer
be able to give birth.
12 Even if you do have children,
I will take them all
and leave you to mourn.
I will turn away,
and you will sink down
in deep trouble.
13 Israel, when I first met you,
I thought of you as palm trees
growing in fertile ground.[h]
Now you lead your people out,
only to be slaughtered.
Hosea's Advice
14 Our Lord, do just one thing
for your people—
make their women unable
to have children
or to nurse their babies.
The Lord's Judgment on Israel
15 Israel, I first began
to hate you because
you did evil at Gilgal.[i]
Now I will chase you
out of my house.
No longer will I love you;
your leaders betrayed me.
16 Israel, you are a vine
with dried-up roots
and fruitless branches.
Even if you had more children
and loved them dearly,
I would slaughter them all.
Hosea Warns Israel
17 Israel, you disobeyed my God.
Now he will force you to roam
from nation to nation.
Footnotes
- 9.1 or … shouts: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 9.1 Wherever … receive: Grain was threshed on hills or other places where the wind could blow away the husks. People also met at these places to worship Baal, the god they thought had given them the grain harvest.
- 9.5 festival of the Lord: Probably the Festival of Shelters.
- 9.6 Memphis: An Egyptian city with a famous cemetery.
- 9.6 Your silver … weeds: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 9.8 Israel … you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 9.9 the men of Gibeah: They raped and murdered a woman (see Judges 19).
- 9.13 Israel, when … ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 9.15 Gilgal: See 4.15.
Cross references
- 9.7 : Lk 21.22.
- 9.9 : Jg 19.1-30.
- 9.10 : Nu 25.1-5.