Hosea 9:1-6

Fertility Cult Festivals Have Intoxicated Israel

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 

Assyrian Exile Will Reverse the Egyptian Exodus

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?

No Escape for the Israelites This Time!

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 

[9:1]  ¹ tn Heb “do not rejoice unto jubilation”; KJV “Rejoice not…for joy”; NASB “Do not rejoice…with exultation.”

[9:1]  ² tn Heb “you have committed adultery”; NRSV “you have played the whore.”

[9:1]  ³ tn Heb “you love the wages of the prostitute” (NIV similar); NAB “loving a harlot’s hire.”

[9:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “her” (so KJV, ASV). This is taken as a collective singular (so also most modern English versions).

[9:6]  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.

[9:6]  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).

[9:6]  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.

[9:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “the treasured things of their silver”; NASB, NIV, TEV, NLT “treasures of silver.”

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their tents” (so NIV, NRSV); CEV “your tents.”