Hosea 9:1-11

1 Israel, do not rejoice; don't shout for joy as the other nations do. You have been like a prostitute against your God. You love the pay of prostitutes on every threshing floor.
2 But the threshing floor and the winepress will not feed the people, and there won't be enough new wine.
3 The people will not stay in the Lord's land. Israel will return to being captives as they were in Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat food that they are not allowed to eat.
4 The Israelites will not give offerings of wine to the Lord; they will not give him sacrifices. Their sacrifices will be like food that is eaten at a funeral; it is unclean, and everyone who eats it becomes unclean. Their food will only satisfy their hunger; they cannot sacrifice it in the Temple.
5 What will you do then on the day of feasts and on the day of the Lord's festival?
6 Even if the people are not destroyed, Egypt will capture them; Memphisn will bury them. Weeds will grow over their silver treasures, and thorns will drive them out of their tents.
7 The time of punishment has come, the time to pay for sins. You think the prophet is a fool, and you say the spiritual person is crazy. You have sinned very much, and your hatred is great.
8 Is Israel a watchman? Everywhere Israel goes, traps are set for him. He is an enemy in God's house.
9 The people of Israel have gone deep into sin as the people of Gibeahn did. they have done, and he will punish their sins.
10 "When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert. Your ancestors were like finding the first figs on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they began worshiping an idol, and they became as hateful as the thing they worshiped.
11 Israel's glory will fly away like a bird; there will be no more pregnancy, no more births, no more getting pregnant.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.