Hosea 6-9

New Living Translation

⁴ “O Israel^[a] and Judah,
    what should I do with you?” asks the Lord.
“For your love vanishes like the morning mist
    and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
⁵ I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—
    to slaughter you with my words,
    with judgments as inescapable as light.
⁶ I want you to show love,^[b]
    not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me^[c]
    more than I want burnt offerings.
⁷ But like Adam,^[d] you broke my covenant
    and betrayed my trust.

⁸ “Gilead is a city of sinners,
    tracked with footprints of blood.
⁹ Priests form bands of robbers,
    waiting in ambush for their victims.
They murder travelers along the road to Shechem
    and practice every kind of sin.
¹⁰ Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel:
    My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!

¹¹ “O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you,
    though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.

³ “The people entertain the king with their wickedness,
    and the princes laugh at their lies.
⁴ They are all adulterers,
    always aflame with lust.
They are like an oven that is kept hot
    while the baker is kneading the dough.
⁵ On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine,
    carousing with those who mock them.
⁶ Their hearts are like an oven
    blazing with intrigue.
Their plot smolders^[f] through the night,
    and in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire.
⁷ Burning like an oven,
    they consume their leaders.
They kill their kings one after another,
    and no one cries to me for help.

⁸ “The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners,
    making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake!
⁹ Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength,
    but they don’t even know it.
Their hair is gray,
    but they don’t realize they’re old and weak.
¹⁰ Their arrogance testifies against them,
    yet they don’t return to the Lord their God
    or even try to find him.

¹¹ “The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves,
    first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria for help.
¹² But as they fly about,
    I will throw my net over them
and bring them down like a bird from the sky.
    I will punish them for all the evil they do.^[g]

¹³ “What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me!
    Let them die, for they have rebelled against me.
I wanted to redeem them,
    but they have told lies about me.
¹⁴ They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts.
    Instead, they sit on their couches and wail.
They cut themselves,^[h] begging foreign gods for grain and new wine,
    and they turn away from me.
¹⁵ I trained them and made them strong,
    yet now they plot evil against me.
¹⁶ They look everywhere except to the Most High.
    They are as useless as a crooked bow.
Their leaders will be killed by their enemies
    because of their insolence toward me.
Then the people of Egypt
    will laugh at them.

⁵ “O Samaria, I reject this calf—
    this idol you have made.
My fury burns against you.
    How long will you be incapable of innocence?
⁶ This calf you worship, O Israel,
    was crafted by your own hands!
It is not God!
    Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.

⁷ “They have planted the wind
    and will harvest the whirlwind.
The stalks of grain wither
    and produce nothing to eat.
And even if there is any grain,
    foreigners will eat it.
⁸ The people of Israel have been swallowed up;
    they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.
⁹ Like a wild donkey looking for a mate,
    they have gone up to Assyria.
The people of Israel^[i] have sold themselves—
    sold themselves to many lovers.
¹⁰ But though they have sold themselves to many allies,
    I will now gather them together for judgment.
Then they will writhe
    under the burden of the great king.

¹¹ “Israel has built many altars to take away sin,
    but these very altars became places for sinning!
¹² Even though I gave them all my laws,
    they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.
¹³ The people love to offer sacrifices to me,
    feasting on the meat,
    but I do not accept their sacrifices.
I will hold my people accountable for their sins,
    and I will punish them.
    They will return to Egypt.
¹⁴ Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces,
    and Judah has fortified its cities.
Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities
    and will burn up their fortresses.”

⁷ 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!”
⁸ The prophet is a watchman over Israel^[k] for my God,
    yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes.
    He faces hostility even in the house of God.
⁹ 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.

¹⁰ The Lord says, “O Israel, when I first found you,
    it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert.
When I saw your ancestors,
    it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season.
But then they deserted me for Baal-peor,
    giving themselves to that shameful idol.
Soon they became vile,
    as vile as the god they worshiped.
¹¹ The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird,
    for your children will not be born
or grow in the womb
    or even be conceived.
¹² Even if you do have children who grow up,
    I will take them from you.
It will be a terrible day when I turn away
    and leave you alone.
¹³ I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre.
    But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.”

¹⁴ O Lord, what should I request for your people?
    I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth
    and breasts that give no milk.

¹⁵ The Lord says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
    because of their evil actions.
I will love them no more
    because all their leaders are rebels.
¹⁶ The people of Israel are struck down.
    Their roots are dried up,
    and they will bear no more fruit.
And if they give birth,
    I will slaughter their beloved children.”

¹⁷ My God will reject the people of Israel
    because they will not listen or obey.
They will be wanderers,
    homeless among the nations.