Hosea 9 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Israel, don’t celebrate like the nations do! Don’t be happy! You acted like a prostitute {\cf2\super [84]} and left your God. You did your sexual sin {\cf2\super [85]} on every threshing floor. {\cf2\super [86]}

² But \{the grain from those\} threshing floors will not give enough food for Israel. There will not be enough wine for Israel.

³ The Israelites will not stay in the Lord’s land. Ephraim will return to Egypt. In Assyria they will eat food that they should not eat.

⁴ The Israelites will not give offerings of wine to the Lord. They will not offer sacrifices to him. Their sacrifices will be like food eaten at a funeral {\cf2\super [87]} —whoever eats it will become unclean. Their bread will not go into the Lord’s temple—they will have to eat that bread by themselves.

⁵ They will not be able to celebrate the Lord’s holidays or festivals. {\cf2\super [88]}

⁶ The people of Israel left because the enemy took everything from them. But Egypt will take the people themselves. Memphis {\cf2\super [89]} will bury them. Weeds will grow over their silver treasures. Thorns will grow where the Israelites lived.

⁷ The prophet says, “Israel, learn these things: The time of punishment has come. The time has come for you to pay \{for the evil things you did\}.” But the people of Israel say, “The prophet is a fool. This man with \{God’s\} Spirit is crazy.” The prophet says, “You will be punished for your bad sins. You will be punished for your hate.”

⁸ God and the prophet are like guards watching over Ephraim. {\cf2\super [90]} But there are many traps along the way. And people hate the prophet, even in the house of his God.

⁹ The Israelites have gone deep into ruin like in the time of Gibeah. {\cf2\super [91]} The Lord will remember the Israelites’ sins. He will punish their sins.

¹⁰ At the time I found Israel, they were like fresh grapes in the desert. They were like the first figs on a fig tree at the beginning of the season. But then they came to Baal-Peor. {\cf2\super [92]} And they changed—and I had to cut them off \{(destroy them) like rotten fruit. {\cf2\super [93]} They became like the terrible things \{(false gods) that they loved.

¹¹ Like a bird, Ephraim’s {\cf2\super [94]} glory will fly away. There will be no more pregnancies, no more births, no more babies.

¹² But even if the Israelites do raise their children, \{it will not help\}. I will take the children away from them. I will leave them, and they will have nothing but troubles.

¹³ I can see that Ephraim is leading his children into a trap. {\cf2\super [95]} Ephraim brings out his children to the killer.

¹⁴ Lord, give them what you will. Give them a womb that loses babies, give them breasts that can’t give milk.

¹⁵ All their evil is in Gilgal; {\cf2\super [96]} \par I began hating them there.\par I will force them to leave my house,\par because of the evil things they do.\par I will not love them any more.\par Their leaders are rebels—\par \{they have turned against me\}.\par

¹⁶ Ephraim {\cf2\super [97]} will be punished.\par Their root is dying.\par They will not have any more babies.\par They might give birth to babies,\par but I will kill the precious babies\par that come from their bodies.\par

¹⁷ Those people will not listen to my God.\par So he will refuse to listen to them.\par And they will wander among the nations\par without a home.\par