Hosea 8:1-14
Israel Will Harvest a Windstorm
The Lord said to me,
“Put a trumpet to your lips!
Give a warning to my people!
Assyria is like an eagle.
It is ready to attack my land.
My people have broken the covenant I made with them.
They have refused to obey my law.
Israel shouts to me,
‘We recognize you as our God!’
But they have turned away from what is good.
So an enemy will chase them.
My people appoint kings I do not want.
They choose princes without my permission.
They use their silver and gold
to make statues of gods.
That is how they destroy themselves.”
The Lord says, “People of Samaria,
throw out your god that looks like a calf!
I am very angry with them.
How long will it be until they are able
to remain faithful to me?
Their calf is not God.
A skilled worker from Israel made it.
But that calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.”
The Lord says,
“Worshiping other gods is like worshiping the wind.
It is like planting worthless seeds.
Assyria is like a windstorm.
That is all my people will harvest.
There are no heads of grain
on the stems that will come up.
So they will not produce any flour.
Even if they did produce grain,
the Assyrians would eat all of it up.
So the people of Israel are swallowed up.
Now they are among the nations
like something no one wants.
They have gone up to Assyria for help.
They are like a wild donkey
that wanders around by itself.
Ephraim’s people have sold themselves
to their Assyrian lovers.
They have sold themselves to the nations
to get their help.
But now I will gather them together.
They will get weaker and weaker.
The mighty kings of Assyria will crush them.
“Ephraim built many altars where they sacrificed
sin offerings to other gods.
So their altars have become
places where they commit sin.
In my law I wrote down many things for their good.
But they considered those things as something strange.
They offer sacrifices as gifts to me.
They eat the meat of the animals they bring.
But the Lord is not pleased with any of this.
He will remember the evil things they have done.
He will punish them for their sins.
And they will return to Egypt.
Israel has forgotten the God who made them.
They have built palaces for themselves.
Judah has built forts in many towns.
But I will send down fire on their cities.
It will burn up their forts.”
Hosea 9:1-17
Israel Will Be Punished
Israel, don’t be joyful.
Don’t be glad as the other nations are.
You haven’t been faithful to your God.
You love to get paid for being a prostitute.
Your pay is the grain at every threshing floor.
But soon there won’t be any grain or wine to feed you.
There won’t even be any fresh wine.
You won’t remain in the Lord’s land.
Ephraim, you will return to Egypt.
You will eat “unclean” food in Assyria.
You won’t pour out wine offerings to the Lord.
Your sacrifices won’t please him.
They’ll be like the bread people eat when someone dies.
Everyone who eats those sacrifices will be “unclean.”
They themselves will have to eat that kind of food.
They can’t bring it into the Lord’s temple.
What will you do when your appointed feasts come?
What will you do on the Lord’s special days?
Some of you will escape without being destroyed.
But you will die in Egypt.
Your bodies will be buried at Memphis.
Weeds will cover your treasures of silver.
Thorns will grow up in your tents.
The time when God will punish you is coming.
The day when he will judge you is near.
I want Israel to know this.
You have committed many sins.
And you hate me very much.
That’s why you think the prophet is foolish.
You think the person the Lord speaks through is crazy.
People of Ephraim, the prophet, along with my God,
is warning you of danger.
But you set traps for him everywhere he goes.
You hate him so much
you even wait for him in God’s house.
You have sunk very deep into sin,
just as your people did at Gibeah long ago.
God will remember the evil things they have done.
He will punish them for their sins.
The Lord says,
“When I first found Israel,
it was like finding grapes in the desert.
When I saw your people of long ago,
it was like seeing the early fruit on a fig tree.
But then they went to Baal Peor.
There they gave themselves to that shameful god named Baal.
They became as evil as the god they loved.
Ephraim’s greatness and glory will be gone.
It will fly away like a bird.
Women will no longer have children.
They will not be able to get pregnant.
But suppose they do have children.
Then I will kill every one of them.
How terrible it will be for them
when I turn away from them!
Tyre is planted in a pleasant place.
And so is Ephraim.
But the Assyrians will kill
Ephraim’s children.”
Lord, what should you do to Ephraim’s people?
Give them women whose babies die before they are born.
Give them women whose breasts have no milk.
The Lord says,
“My people did many evil things in Gilgal.
That is why I hated them there.
They committed many sins.
So I will drive them out of my land.
I will not love them anymore.
All their leaders refuse to obey me.
Ephraim is like a worthless plant.
Its roots are dried up.
It does not produce any fruit.
Suppose Ephraim’s people have children.
Then I will kill the children they love so much.”
My God will turn his back on his people.
They have not obeyed him.
So they will wander among other nations.
