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HOSEA • CHAPTER 9
Hosea 9
Marriage imagery, covenant betrayal, judgment, divine love, political instability, repentance, and restoration.
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Hosea 9
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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1
Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations;
for you were unfaithful to your God.
You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.
for you were unfaithful to your God.
You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.
2
The threshing floor and the wine press won’t feed them,
and the new wine will fail her.
and the new wine will fail her.
3
They won’t dwell in Yahweh’s land;
but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
but Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
4
They won’t pour out wine offerings to Yahweh,
neither 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.
neither 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.
5
What will you do in the day of solemn assembly,
and in the day of the feast of Yahweh?
and in the day of the feast of Yahweh?
6
For, behold, they have gone away from destruction.
Egypt will gather them up.
Memphis will bury them.
Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver.
Thorns will be in their tents.
Egypt will gather them up.
Memphis will bury them.
Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver.
Thorns will be in their tents.
7
The days of visitation have come.
The days of reckoning have come.
Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool,
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 reckoning have come.
Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool,
and the man who is inspired to be insane,
because of the abundance of your sins,
and because your hostility is great.
8
A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God.
A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.
A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.
9
They have deeply corrupted themselves,
as in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity.
He will punish them for their sins.
as in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity.
He will punish them for their sins.
10
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.
I 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 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.
11
As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird.
There will be no birth, no one with child, and no conception.
There will be no birth, no one with child, and no conception.
12
Though they bring up their children,
yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left.
Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!
yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left.
Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!
13
I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place;
but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.
but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.
14
Give them—Yahweh what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15
“All their wickedness is in Gilgal;
for 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.
for 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.
16
Ephraim is struck.
Their root has dried up.
They will bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.”
Their root has dried up.
They will bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.”
17
My God will cast them away, because they didn’t listen to him;
and they will be wanderers among the nations.
and they will be wanderers among the nations.
PROPHETIC
Where this chapter fits
Hosea uses prophetic or apocalyptic language shaped by political crisis, judgment, hope, symbolic imagery, and expectations about God's action in history.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
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What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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