Hosea

Rejoice not, O Israel,As other peoples exult;For you have strayedAway from your God:You have loved a prostitute’s feeBy every threshing floor of new grain.

Threshing floor and winepressShall not join them,And the new wine shall betray her.aYou have loved a prostitute’s fee / By every threshing floor of new grain. / Threshing floor and winepress / Shall not join them, / And the new wine shall betray her Emendation and rearrangement yield: “You have loved fornication / By every threshing floor and press; / The new grain shall not join them, / And the new wine shall fail them.”

They shall not be able to remainIn GOD’s land.But Ephraim shall return to EgyptAnd shall eat impure food in Assyria.beat impure food in Assyria The lands of the heathen and the food there are impure; cf. Ezek. 4.13; Amos 7.17.

It shall be for them like the food of mourners,All who partake of which are defiled.They will offer no libations of wine to GOD,And no sacrifices of theirs will please;But their food will be only for their hunger,It shall not come into the House of GOD.

What will you do about feast days,About the festivals of GOD?

Behold, they have gone from destructioncfrom destruction Emendation yields “to Assyria.” [With] the silver they treasure.Egypt shall hold them fast,dhold them fast Cf. 8.10. MopheMoph Believed to be Memphis, elsewhere called Noph. shall receive them in burial.Weeds are their heirs;Prickly shrubs occupy their [old] homes.

The days of punishment have comeFor your heavy guilt;The days of requital have come—Let Israel know it!The prophet was distraught,The inspired man driven madBy constant harassment.

Ephraim watches for my God.As for the prophet,fmy God. / As for the prophet Emendation yields “the prophet of my God.” Fowlers’ snares are on all his paths,Harassment in the House of his God.

They have been as grievously corruptAs in the days of Gibeah;gthe days of Gibeah See Judg. 19–20. [God] will remember their iniquity,And will punish their sins.

I found Israel [as pleasing]As grapes in the wilderness;Your ancestors seemed to MeLike the first fig to ripen on a fig tree.hLike the first fig to ripen on a fig tree Emendation yields “like a ripe fig in a waterless waste”; cf. 13.5. But when they came to Baal-peor,They turned aside to shamefulness;ishamefulness Cf. Num. 25.1–3. Then they became as detestedAs they had been loved.jThen they became … loved Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

From birth, from the womb, from conceptionEphraim’s glory shall beLike birds that fly away.kV. 16 would read well after this verse.

Even if they rear their infants,I will bereave them of everyone.Woe to them indeedWhen I turn away from them!lWoe to them indeed / When I turn away from them! Emendation yields: “Even if they wean their babes, / They shall be dismayed because of them.”

It shall go with EphraimAs I have seen it go with Tyre,Which was planted in a meadow;mIt shall go … in a meadow Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Ephraim too must bring outHis children to slayers.

Give them, O ETERNAL One—give them what?Give them a womb that miscarries,And shriveled breasts!

All their misfortune [began] at Gilgal,For there I disowned them.nthem The specific allusion is uncertain. For their evil deedsI will drive them out of My House.I will accept them no more;All their officials areoAll their officials are Emendation yields “They are all.” disloyal.

EphraimpEphraim Targum reads “Their crown,” i.e., of a tree. is stricken,Their stock is withered;They can produce no fruit.Even if they do bear children,I will slay their cherished offspring.

My God rejects themBecause they have not obeyed,And they shall go wanderingAmong the nations.