Year of the Bible
Hosea 9
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Commentary on the Book of Hosea, Chapter 9:
What was hinted at previously is now illustrated more starkly as Hosea recounts how the people have sinned against God, and how God will let them live without His favor. The name used for the Northern Kingdom is Ephraim, one of the tribes of the north. The ancestor for whom they are named was born in Egypt, and some people will return there, losing their right to the Promised Land (v. 3). Others will be sent to Assyria, another pagan nation (v. 3). Just like past generations were corrupt and detestable in their sin at Baal-Peor and Gibeah, this generation has likewise forsaken God’s Laws (vv. 9-10). Because there is hatred and evil at the shrine for God in Gilgal, God will ignore their offerings and drive them out (vv. 4, 8, 15). Death and lack of life (vv. 2, 6, 11-14, 16) will occur. The word translated as punishment and punish has a sense of giving an account. God is accounting for the people’s actions and giving them their just recompense (vv. 7, 9).
The Book of Hosea, Chapter 9:
Punishment for Israel’s Sin
1 Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not like the peoples;
for you have played the harlot, forsaking your God.
You have loved a harlot’s hire
upon all threshing floors.
2 Threshing floor and winevat
shall not feed them,
and the new wine shall fail them.
3 They shall not remain in the land of the Lord;
but Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 They shall not pour libations of wine to the Lord;
and they shall not please
him with their sacrifices.
Their bread shall be like mourners’ bread;
all who eat of it shall be
defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
it shall not come to the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the day of appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For behold, they are going to Assyria;
Egypt shall gather them,
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver;
thorns shall be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come,
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool,
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity and great hatred.
8 The prophet is the watchman of Ephraim,
the people of my God,
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibe-ah: he will remember their
iniquity,
he will punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig
tree,
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves
to Baal,
and became detestable like the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory shall fly
away like a bird—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Even if they bring up children,
I will bereave them till none is left.
Woe to them
when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim’s sons, as I have seen, are destined for a prey;
Ephraim must lead forth his sons to slaughter.
14 Give them, O Lord— what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all their princes are rebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they bring forth,
I will slay their beloved children.
17 My God will cast them off, because they have not
listened to him;
they shall be wanderers among the nations.
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
"...Ephraim must lead forth his sons to slaughter." (v.13) Meditate on the significance of God speaking this to the Israelites while knowing that in years to come he would send his own son to pay the price for their sins.
Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc, or online.
Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
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1 No te alegres, Israel,
ni te regocijes, como los pueblos,
porque te has prostituido abandonando
a tu Dios:
has preferido el salario de prostitución
a todas las eras de trigo.
2Ni era ni lagar los alimentarán,
y les fallará el mosto.
3No habitarán en la tierra del Señor:
Efraím volverá a Egipto,
y comerán inmundicias en Asiria.
4No harán libaciones de vino al Señor,
ni le serán gratos sus sacrificios:
serán para ellos pan de duelo,
cuantos lo coman se volverán impuros;
el pan será sólo para ellos,
no entrará en la casa del Señor.
5¿Qué haréis el día de solemnidad,
el día de la fiesta del Señor?
6Han escapado de la devastación:
Egipto los reunirá,
Menfis los sepultará;
sus tesoros de plata
los heredarán las ortigas,
las zarzas invadirán sus tiendas.
El profeta perseguido
7Han llegado los días de tomar cuenta,
han llegado los días de la retribución.
¡Que se entere Israel!
«El profeta es un necio,
el hombre de espíritu, un loco»,
a causa de la magnitud de tu culpa
y la enormidad de tu enemistad.
8Centinela de Efraím
es el profeta de mi Dios;
pero ahora un lazo de cazador
ha puesto en todos sus caminos;
hay enemistad en la casa de su Dios.
9Se corrompieron hasta el fondo,
como en los días de Guibeá;
pero Él recuerda sus culpas
y les tomará cuenta de sus pecados.
El crimen de Baal-Peor
10Como uvas en desierto
encontré Yo a Israel,
como breva primeriza en higuera
vi a vuestros padres.
Pero ellos, al llegar a Baal-Peor,
se consagraron a la Vergüenza,
y se hicieron tan abominables
como lo que amaron.
11La gloria de Efraím volará como
un pájaro:
no habrá más nacimiento, ni embarazo,
ni concepción.
12Aunque críen a sus hijos,
Yo les privaré de ellos
antes que se hagan hombres.
¡Ay de ellos
cuando Yo los abandone!
13Efraím –lo veo–
está plantada, como Tiro, en lugares
fértiles;
pero Efraím saca sus hijos a la matanza.
14«Dales, Señor.
¿Qué les darás?
Dales vientres estériles
y pechos secos».
El culto en Guilgal
15Toda su maldad está en Guilgal;
allí les he cobrado odio.
Por la malicia de sus obras
los echaré de mi casa.
Ya no les amaré más;
todos sus príncipes son rebeldes.
16Efraím está herido,
su raíz, seca,
ya no darán fruto;
aunque engendren,
daré muerte al fruto querido de su
vientre.
17Mi Dios los rechaza
porque no le escucharon:
andarán errantes entre las naciones.
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
"...Efraín debe llevar a sus hijos al matadero". (v.13) Medita sobre el hecho de que Dios hablara así a los israelitas, sabiendo que en los años venideros enviaría a su propio hijo para pagar el precio de sus pecados.
La Biblia de Navarra
Permiso para usar esta versión de la primera edición de la Biblia de Navarra
para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).