Old Testament · Prophecy

Hosea 9

No Rejoicing

Do not rejoice, Israel. You have been unfaithful. The prophet is considered a fool, and the punishment is exile. The days of reckoning have arrived.

King James Version BSB KJV

1Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.

2The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.

3They shall not dwell in the LORD’s land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.

4They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.

5What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?

6For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.

7The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.

8The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.

9They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.

10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baal-peor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

11As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.

12Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!

13Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.

14Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.

16Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.

17My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Understand This

Hosea 9, explained

What Hosea 9 is saying

Hosea interrupts harvest festival celebrations to announce that the joy is over—Israel will return to 'Egypt' (exile). The prophet is mocked as a fool, but the days of punishment have come. A horrifying oracle at Baal-Peor recalls Israel's ancient apostasy, and Hosea's prayer for Israel is devastating: 'Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.'

The background behind it

The autumn harvest festival (likely Sukkot) would have been a time of feasting, wine, and fertility celebration, often incorporating Baal worship elements. Baal-Peor (Numbers 25) was a paradigmatic moment of sexual idolatry that Hosea sees replicated in his own day.

Themes running underneath

The reversal of fertility is deeply ironic: Israel pursued fertility gods and now faces barrenness. Hosea's shocking prayer (9:14) is not vindictive but merciful—better that children not be born than be born into the coming destruction.

Why it still matters

Hosea's willingness to speak unwelcome truth at the height of celebration models prophetic courage. The question of when celebration becomes self-deception remains relevant.

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Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.