Hosea 9:1-9 - Compare All Versions

Share

Do not rejoice, Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor. Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. They will not remain in the LORD’s land; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria. They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, nor will their sacrifices please him. Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves; it will not come into the temple of the LORD. What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals, on the feast days of the LORD? Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents. The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac. The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.

Rejoice not, O Israel! Exult not like the peoples; for you have played the whore, forsaking your God. You have loved a prostitute’s wages on all threshing floors. Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail them. They shall not remain in the land of the LORD, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria. They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the LORD, and their sacrifices shall not please him. It shall be like mourners’ bread to them; all who eat of it shall be defiled; for their bread shall be for their hunger only; it shall not come to the house of the LORD. What will you do on the day of the appointed festival, and on the day of the feast of the LORD? For behold, they are going away from destruction; but Egypt shall gather them; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver; thorns shall be in their tents. The days of punishment have come; the days of recompense have come; Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool; the man of the spirit is mad, because of your great iniquity and great hatred. The prophet is the watchman of Ephraim with my God; yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah: he will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins.

O people of Israel, do not rejoice as other nations do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, worshiping other gods on every threshing floor. So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. There will be no grapes for making new wine. You may no longer stay here in the LORD’s land. Instead, you will return to Egypt, and in Assyria you will eat food that is ceremonially unclean. There you will make no offerings of wine to the LORD. None of your sacrifices there will please him. They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning. All who present such sacrifices will be defiled. They may eat this food themselves, but they may not offer it to the LORD. What then will you do on festival days? How will you observe the LORD’s festivals? Even if you escape destruction from Assyria, Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis will bury you. Nettles will take over your treasures of silver; thistles will invade your ruined homes. The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of payment is here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. Because of your great sin and hostility, you say, “The prophets are crazy and the inspired men are fools!” The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God, yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God. The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago. God will not forget. He will surely punish them for their sins.

Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do,  for you have acted promiscuously,  leaving your God. You love the wages of a prostitute on every grain-threshing floor.  Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them,  and the new wine will fail them. They will not stay in the land of the  LORD. Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt,  and they will eat unclean food  in Assyria.  They will not pour out their wine offerings to the  LORD,  and their sacrifices will not please him. Their food will be like the bread of mourners; all who eat it become defiled.  For their bread will be for their appetites alone; it will not enter the house of the  LORD. What will you do on a festival day,  on the day of the  LORD’s feast?  For even if they flee from devastation, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them.  Thistles will take possession of their precious silver; thorns will invade their tents.  The days of punishment have come;  the days of retribution have come.  Let Israel recognize it! The prophet is a fool,  and the inspired man is insane,  because of the magnitude of your iniquity and hostility.  Ephraim’s watchman is with my God. Yet the prophet encounters a bird trap on all his pathways.  Hostility is in the house of his God! They have deeply corrupted themselves  as in the days of Gibeah.  He will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins.

Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor. The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her. They shall not dwell in the LORD's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD. What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD? For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles. The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.

Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples, For you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love for hire on every threshing floor. The threshing floor and the winepress Shall not feed them, And the new wine shall fail in her. They shall not dwell in the LORD’s land, But Ephraim shall return to Egypt, And shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, Nor shall their 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. What will you do in the appointed day, And in the day of the feast of the LORD? For indeed they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver; Thorns shall be in their tents. The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, The spiritual man is insane, Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; But the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways— Enmity in the house of his God. They are deeply corrupted, As in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.

Don’t waste your life in wild orgies, Israel. Don’t party away your life with the heathen. You walk away from your God at the drop of a hat and like a whore sell yourself promiscuously at every sex-and-religion party on the street. All that party food won’t fill you up. You’ll end up hungrier than ever. At this rate you’ll not last long in GOD’s land: Some of you are going to end up bankrupt in Egypt. Some of you will be disillusioned in Assyria. As refugees in Egypt and Assyria, you won’t have much chance to worship GOD— Sentenced to rations of bread and water, and your souls polluted by the spirit-dirty air. You’ll be starved for GOD, exiled from GOD’s own country. Will you be homesick for the old Holy Days? Will you miss festival worship of GOD? Be warned! When you escape from the frying pan of disaster, you’ll fall into the fire of Egypt. Egypt will give you a fine funeral! What use will all your god-inspired silver be then as you eke out a living in a field of weeds? * * * Time’s up. Doom’s at the doorstep. It’s payday! Did Israel bluster, “The prophet is crazy! The ‘man of the Spirit’ is nuts!”? Think again. Because of your great guilt, you’re in big trouble. The prophet is looking out for Ephraim, working under God’s orders. But everyone is trying to trip him up. He’s hated right in God’s house, of all places. The people are going from bad to worse, rivaling that ancient and unspeakable crime at Gibeah. God’s keeping track of their guilt. He’ll make them pay for their sins.

Do not rejoice, Israel, with jubilation like the nations! For you have been unfaithful, abandoning your God. You have loved the earnings of unfaithfulness on every threshing floor. Threshing floor and wine press will not feed them, And the new wine will fail them. They will not remain in the LORD’S land, But Ephraim will return to Egypt, And in Assyria they will eat unclean food. They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the LORD, Nor will their sacrifices please Him. Their bread will be to them like mourners’ bread; All who eat it will be defiled, Because their bread will be for themselves alone; It will not enter the house of the LORD. What will you do on the day of the appointed festival And on the day of the feast of the LORD? For behold, they will be gone because of destruction; Egypt will gather them together, Memphis will bury them. Weeds will take possession of their treasures of silver; Thorns will be in their tents. ¶The days of punishment have come, The days of retribution have come; Let Israel know this! The prophet is a fool, The inspired person is insane, Because of the grossness of your wrongdoing, And because your hostility is so great. Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a prophet; Yet the snare of a bird catcher is in all his ways, And there is only hostility in the house of his God. They are deeply depraved As in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt, He will punish their sins.

Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation as do the [pagan] peoples, For you have played the prostitute, turning away from your God. You have loved prostitutes’ earnings on every threshing floor [attributing the harvest to the Baals instead of to God]. The threshing floor and the wine press will no longer feed them, And the new wine will fail them [because they failed to honor the God who provides]. They will not remain in the land of the LORD, But Ephraim will return to [another] Egypt [in bondage] And they will eat [ceremonially] unclean food in Assyria. [2 Kin 25:26; Ezek 4:13] They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the LORD; Their sacrifices will not please Him. Their bread will be like mourners’ bread [eaten at funerals]; All who eat it will be [ceremonially] unclean, For their bread will be for themselves; It will not enter the house of the LORD [to be consecrated]. What will you do on the day of the appointed festival And on the day of the feast of the LORD [when you are in exile]? For behold, they will go away because of devastation and destruction; Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them. Weeds will take over their treasures of silver; Thorns will grow in their tents. ¶The days of punishment have come; The days of retribution are at hand; Let Israel know this! The prophet is [considered] a fool; The man [of God] who is inspired is [treated as if] demented, Because of the abundance of your wickedness and guilt, And because your deep antagonism [toward God and the prophets] is so great. [Luke 21:22] Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a [true] prophet [to warn the nation]; But the snare of a bird catcher was laid in all his paths. And there is only deep hostility in the house of his God (the land of Israel). They have deeply corrupted (perverted) themselves As in the days of Gibeah. The LORD will remember their wickedness and guilt; He will punish their sins. [Judg 20]

O Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly like the nations, for you are unfaithful to your God. You love to receive a prostitute's wages on all the floors where you thresh your grain. Threshing floors and wine vats will not feed the people, and new wine only deceives them. They will not remain in the LORD’s land. Ephraim will return to Egypt; they will eat ritually unclean food in Assyria. They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the LORD; they will not please him with their sacrifices. Their sacrifices will be like bread eaten while in mourning; all those who eat them will make themselves ritually unclean. For their bread will be only to satisfy their appetite; it will not come into the temple of the LORD. So what will you do on the festival day, on the festival days of the LORD? Look! Even if they flee from the destruction, Egypt will take hold of them, and Memphis will bury them. The weeds will inherit the silver they treasure – thorn bushes will occupy their homes. The time of judgment is about to arrive! The time of retribution is imminent! Let Israel know! The prophet is considered a fool – the inspired man is viewed as a madman – because of the multitude of your sins and your intense animosity. The prophet is a watchman over Ephraim on behalf of God, yet traps are laid for him along all of his paths; animosity rages against him in the land of his God. They have sunk deep into corruption as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their wrongdoing. He will repay them for their sins.