9:1 O Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly 1 like the nations,
for you are unfaithful 2 to your God.
You love to receive a prostitute's wages 3
on all the floors where you thresh your grain.
9:2 Threshing floors and wine vats will not feed the people, 4
and new wine only deceives them. 5
9:3 They will not remain in the Lord’s land.
Ephraim will return to Egypt;
they will eat ritually unclean food in Assyria.
9:4 They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord;
they will not please him with their sacrifices.
Their sacrifices will be like bread eaten while in mourning;
all those who eat them will make themselves ritually unclean.
For their bread will be only to satisfy their appetite;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.
9:5 So what will you do on the festival day,
on the festival days of the Lord?
9:6 Look! 6 Even if 7 they flee from the destruction,
Egypt will take hold 8 of them,
and Memphis will bury them.
The weeds will inherit the silver they treasure 9 –
thorn bushes will occupy their homes. 10
1 tn Heb “do not rejoice unto jubilation”; KJV “Rejoice not…for joy”; NASB “Do not rejoice…with exultation.”
2 tn Heb “you have committed adultery”; NRSV “you have played the whore.”
3 tn Heb “you love the wages of the prostitute” (NIV similar); NAB “loving a harlot’s hire.”
4 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “her” (so KJV, ASV). This is taken as a collective singular (so also most modern English versions).
6 tn The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “Behold!”) is used frequently in prophetic announcements, introducing a solemn or important declaration, particularly in threats of judgment (BDB 244 s.v. הִנֵּה b.β). Many modern English versions leave this particle untranslated here.
7 tn The conjunction כִּי (ki) introduces a concessive clause: “Although, when, if, even if” (BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c.β). It has a force approximating “even if” (so NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV, NLT), but it represents a situation as more likely to occur than אִם (‘im, “if”). The concessive use of כִּי is normally followed by an imperfect, but occasionally a perfect is used, as is the case here (e.g., Mic 7:8; Nah 1:10; Pss 21:12; 119:83).
8 tn The verb קָבַץ (qavats, “to gather together”) should be nuanced “grab hold” in this context (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ). This pictures a personified Egypt taking the fugitives prisoner.
9 tn Heb “the treasured things of their silver”; NASB, NIV, TEV, NLT “treasures of silver.”
10 tn Heb “their tents” (so NIV, NRSV); CEV “your tents.”