Hosea 9

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¹Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations, for you have played the harlot against your God; you have made love for hire on every threshing floor. ✦ ²The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them. ✦ ³They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria. ✦ ⁴They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD. ✦ ⁵What will you do on the appointed day, on the day of the LORD’s feast? ✦ ⁶For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents. ✦ ⁷The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility. ✦ ⁸The prophet is Ephraim’s watchman, along with my God, yet the snare of the fowler lies on all his paths. Hostility is in the house of his God! ✦ ⁹They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins. ✦ ¹⁰I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved. ✦ ¹¹Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception. ✦ ¹²Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them! ✦ ¹³I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a meadow. But Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter. ✦ ¹⁴Give them, O LORD—what will You give? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that dry up! ✦ ¹⁵All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. ✦ ¹⁶Ephraim is struck down; their root is withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay the darlings of their wombs. ✦ ¹⁷My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Hos 9 ·14 Deut 28 ·8 Hos 7 ·6 Hos 4 ·6 Hos 2 ·5 Hos 5 ·5 2 Kgs 17 ·5 Hos 8 ·5

Christ at the center

God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.

How Hosea 9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 9YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Hosea 9David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Hosea 9Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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