HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1163
HOSEA 10
page 793
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
yet traps are laid for him wherever
he goes.
He faces hostility even in the house
of God.
The things my people do are as depraved
as what they did in Gibeah long ago.
God will not forget.
He will surely punish them for
their sins.
The Lord says, “O Israel, when I first
found you,
it was like finding fresh grapes in the
desert.
When I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the first ripe figs of
the season.
But then they deserted me for Baal-peor,
giving themselves to that shameful idol.
Soon they became vile,
as vile as the god they worshiped.
The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird,
for your children will not be born
or grow in the womb
or even be conceived.
Even if you do have children who grow up,
I will take them from you.
It will be a terrible day when I turn away
and leave you alone.
I have watched Israel become as beautiful
as Tyre.
But now Israel will bring out her children
for slaughter.”
O Lord, what should I request for your
people?
I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth
and breasts that give no milk.
The Lord says, “All their wickedness began
at Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
because of their evil actions.
I will love them no more
because all their leaders are rebels.
The people of Israel are struck down.
Their roots are dried up,
and they will bear no more fruit.
And if they give birth,
I will slaughter their beloved children.”
My God will reject the people of Israel
because they will not listen or obey.
They will be wanderers,
homeless among the nations.
10:5a Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being
used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of
God.” 10:5b Or will be taken away into exile. 10:8 Aven
is a reference to Beth-aven; see 10:5a and the note there.
10:11a Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom
of Israel. 10:11b Hebrew Jacob. The names “Jacob”
and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old
Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch
and sometimes to the nation.
The LORD’s Judgment against Israel
1 How prosperous Israel is—
a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit.
But the richer the people get,
the more pagan altars they build.
The more bountiful their harvests,
the more beautiful their sacred pillars.
2 The hearts of the people are fickle;
they are guilty and must be punished.
The Lord will break down their altars
and smash their sacred pillars.
3 Then they will say, “We have no king
because we didn’t fear the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us anyway?”
4 They spout empty words
and make covenants they don’t intend
to keep.
So injustice springs up among them
like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.
10
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
The people of Samaria tremble in fear
for their calf idol at Beth-aven,*
and they mourn for it.
Though its priests rejoice over it,
its glory will be stripped away.*
This idol will be carted away to Assyria,
a gift to the great king there.
Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will
be shamed,
because its people have trusted in
this idol.
Samaria and its king will be cut off;
they will float away like driftwood on an
ocean wave.
And the pagan shrines of Aven,* the place
of Israel’s sin, will crumble.
Thorns and thistles will grow up around
their altars.
They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!”
and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”
The Lord says, “O Israel, ever since Gibeah,
there has been only sin and more sin!
You have made no progress whatsoever.
Was it not right that the wicked men of
Gibeah were attacked?
Now whenever it fits my plan,
I will attack you, too.
I will call out the armies of the nations
to punish you for your multiplied sins.
“Israel* is like a trained heifer treading out
the grain—
an easy job she loves.
But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender
neck.
I will force Judah to pull the plow
and Israel* to break up the hard ground.
I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of
righteousness,
and you will harvest a crop of love.