Hosea 9
International Children’s Bible
Israel’s Punishment
9 Israel, do not rejoice.
Don’t celebrate as the other nations do.
You have been unfaithful to your God.
You love the grain on your threshing floors.
So you worship the gods who supposedly gave it.
2 But there won’t be enough grain to feed the people.
And there won’t be enough wine to go around.
3 The Israelites will not stay in the Lord’s land.
Israel will return to being captives as they were in Egypt.
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.
Their sacrifices will not please him.
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 festival days of the Lord?
6 Even if the people are not destroyed,
Egypt will take them as captives.
They will be buried in Memphis.[a]
Weeds will grow over their silver treasures.
Thorns will grow over their houses.
7 Let Israel know this.
The time of punishment has come.
The time to pay for your sins has come.
You have sinned very much,
and your hatred is great.
You think the prophet is a fool.
You say the spiritual man is crazy.
8 The prophet is God’s watchman
to warn Israel of danger.
But everywhere he goes you set traps for him.
You treat him as an enemy in God’s own land.
9 The men of Israel have become as sinful
as the men of Gibeah[b] were.
The Lord will remember the evil things they have done.
He will punish them for 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 tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,
they began worshiping an idol.
They became as disgusting as the thing they worshiped.
11 Israel’s glory will fly away like a bird.
There will be no more pregnancies, no more births, no more babies.
12 But even if the Israelites bring up children,
I will take them all away.
How terrible it will be for them
when I turn away from them!
13 I have seen Israel, like Tyre,
given a pleasant place.
But the people of Israel will soon bring out
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 breasts that cannot feed their babies.
15 “The Israelites were wicked in Gilgal,
so I began to hate 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 like a sick plant.
Its root is dying, and it has no fruit.
So the people will have no more children.
And if they did, I would kill the children they love.”
17 God will reject them,
because they have not obeyed him.
They will wander among the nations.
Footnotes
- 9:6 Memphis A city in Egypt famous for its tombs.
- 9:9 Gibeah The sins of the men of Gibeah caused a civil war. See Judges 19–21.
Hosea 9
King James Version
9 Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.
2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.
3 They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord.
5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.
7 The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.
10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
14 Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.
16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Hosea 9
English Standard Version
The Lord Will Punish Israel
9 Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not like the peoples;
(A)for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
(B)You have loved a prostitute's wages
on all threshing floors.
2 (C)Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and (D)the new wine shall fail them.
3 They shall not remain in (E)the land of the Lord,
but (F)Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
and (G)they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 (H)They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
(I)and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like (J)mourners' bread to them;
all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
(K)it shall not come to the house of the Lord.
5 (L)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For behold, they are going away from destruction;
but (M)Egypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess (N)their precious things of silver;
(O)thorns shall be in their tents.
7 (P)The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
(Q)The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
and great hatred.
8 The prophet is (R)the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet (S)a fowler's snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 (T)They have deeply corrupted themselves
as (U)in the days of Gibeah:
(V)he will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
(W)I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But (X)they came to Baal-peor
and (Y)consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and (Z)became detestable like the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim's (AA)glory shall fly away like a bird—
(AB)no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 (AC)Even if they bring up children,
I will bereave them till none is left.
(AD)Woe to them
when (AE)I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, (AF)as I have seen, was like a young palm[a] planted in a meadow;
but (AG)Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.[b]
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will you give?
Give them (AH)a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs is in (AI)Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all (AJ)their princes are (AK)rebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken;
(AL)their root is dried up;
they shall bear no fruit.
Even (AM)though they give birth,
(AN)I will put their beloved children to death.
17 (AO)My God will reject them
because they have not listened to him;
(AP)they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:13 Or like Tyre
- Hosea 9:13 Hebrew to him who slaughters
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
