Hosea 9

1for you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor. Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations; 2and the new wine will fail her. The threshing floor and the wine press won’t feed them, 3but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria. They won’t dwell in Yahweh’s land; 4neither will they be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat of it will be polluted; for their bread will be for their appetite. It will not come into Yahweh’s house. They won’t pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, 5and in the day of the feast of Yahweh? What will you do in the day of solemn assembly, 6Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver. Thorns will be in their tents. For, behold, they have gone away from destruction. 7The days of reckoning have come. and the man who is inspired to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great. The days of visitation have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, 8A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God. 9as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish them for their sins. They have deeply corrupted themselves, 10I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season; but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that which they loved. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. 11There will be no birth, no one with child, and no conception. As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird. 12yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them! Though they bring up their children, 13but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer. I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place; 14Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. Give them—Yahweh what will you give? 15for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels. “All their wickedness is in Gilgal; 16Their root has dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.” Ephraim is struck. 17and they will be wanderers among the nations. My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to him;