Hosea 9; Hosea 10; Hosea 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.

12 But even if the Israelites bring up children, I will take them all away. How terrible it will be for them when I go away from them!

13 I have seen Israel, like Tyre, given a pleasant place. their children to be killed."

14 Lord, give them what they should have. What will you give them? Make their women unable to have children; give them dried-up breasts that cannot feed their babies.

15 "The Israelites were very wicked in Gilgal, so I have hated them there. Because of the sinful things they have done, I will force them to leave my land. I will no longer love them; their leaders have turned against me.

16 Israel is beaten down; its root is dying, and it has no fruit. If they have more children, I will kill the children they love."

17 God will reject them, because they have not obeyed him; they will wander among the nations.

1 Israel is like a large vine that produced plenty of fruit. As the people became richer, they built more altars for idols. As their land became better, they put up better stone pillars to honor gods.

2 Their heart was false, and now they must pay for their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars; he will destroy their holy stone pillars.

3 Then they will say, "We have no king, because we didn't honor the Lord. As for the king, he couldn't do anything for us."

4 They make many false promises and agreements which they don't keep. So people sue each other in court; they are like poisonous weeds growing in a plowed field.

5 The people from Israel are worried about the calf-shaped idol at Beth Aven. The people will cry about it, and the priests will cry about it. They used to shout for joy about its glory,

6 but it will be carried off to Assyria as a gift to the great king. Israel will be disgraced, and the people will be ashamed for not obeying.

7 Israel will be destroyed; its king will be like a chip of wood floating on the water.

8 The places of false worship will be destroyed, the places where Israel sins. Thorns and weeds will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!" and to the hills, "Fall on us!"

9 "Israel, you have sinned since the time of Gibeah, and the people there have continued sinning. But war will surely overwhelm them in Gibeah, because of the evil they have done there.

10 When I am ready, I will come to punish them. Nations will come together against them, and they will be punished for their double sins.

11 Israel is like a well-trained young cow that likes to thresh grain. I will put a yoke on her neck and make her work hard in the field. Israel will plow, and Judah will break up the ground.

12 I said, 'Plant goodness, harvest the fruit of loyalty, plow the new ground of knowledge. and pours goodness on you like water.'

13 But you have plowed evil and harvested trouble; you have eaten the fruit of your lies. Because you have trusted in your own power and your many soldiers,

14 your people will hear the noise of battle, and all your strong, walled cities will be destroyed. destroyed Beth Arbel in battle, when mothers and their children were bashed to death.

15 The same will happen to you, people of Bethel, because you did so much evil. When the sun comes up, the king of Israel will die.

1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.

2 But when I called the people of Israel, they went away from me. and burned incense to the idols.

3 It was I who taught Israel to walk, and I took them by the arms, but they did not understand that I had healed them.

4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ropes of love. I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down and fed them.

5 "The Israelites will become captives again, as they were in Egypt, and Assyria will become their king, because they refuse to turn back to God.

6 War will sweep through their cities and will destroy them and kill them because of their wicked plans.

7 My people have made up their minds to turn away from me. The prophets call them to turn to me, but none of them honors me at all.

8 "Israel, how can I give you up? How can I give you away, Israel? or treat you like Zeboiim. My heart beats for you, and my love for you stirs up my pity.

9 I won't punish you in my anger, and I won't destroy Israel again. I am God and not a human; I am the Holy One, and I am among you. I will not come against you in anger.

10 They will go after the Lord, and he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will hurry to him from the west.

11 They will come swiftly like birds from Egypt and like doves from Assyria. I will settle them again in their homes," says the Lord.

12 Israel has surrounded me with lies; the people have made evil plans. And Judah turns against God, the faithful Holy One.