9 Ephraim shall be a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which is sure.
But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? And they turned and said, Like as Jehovah of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.
As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away as a bird, -- no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! For even should they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, [that] not a man [remain]: for woe also to them when I shall have departed from them! Ephraim, as I saw [him], was a Tyre planted in a beautiful place; but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the slayer. Give them, Jehovah -- what wilt thou give? -- give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them: because of the wickedness of their doings, I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more: all their princes are rebellious. Ephraim is smitten: their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; yea, though they should bring forth, yet will I slay the beloved [fruit] of their womb. My God hath rejected them, because they hearkened not unto him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious adornment, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine. Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, as a storm of hail [and] a destroying tempest; as a storm of mighty waters overflowing, shall he cast down to the earth with might. The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet; and the fading flower of his glorious adornment which is on the head of the fat valley shall be like an early fig before the summer: as soon as he that seeth it perceiveth it, scarcely is it in his hand, he swalloweth it down.
Though he be fruitful among [his] brethren, an east wind shall come, a wind of Jehovah [that] cometh up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels. Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided with the line; and thou shalt die in a land that is unclean; and Israel shall certainly go into captivity, out of his land.
And the high places of Isaac shall be desolated, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will arise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also punish the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah.
But the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Behold, he breaketh down, and it is not built again; he shutteth up a man, and there is no opening.
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel: but he trespassed through Baal, and he died. And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the lattice.
He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king; for they refused to return [to me]; and the sword shall turn about in his cities, and shall consume his bars, and devour [them], because of their own counsels.
Israel is swallowed up: now are they become among the nations as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
And I will be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
so I have long ago declared [them] to thee; before they came to pass I caused thee to hear [them]; lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, or my molten image hath commanded them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hosea 5
Commentary on Hosea 5 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 5
The scope of this chapter is the same with that of the foregoing chapter, to discover the sin both of Israel and Judah, and to denounce the judgments of God against them.
The more generally these things are expressed of so much the more general use they are for our learning, and particularly for our admonition.
Hsa 5:1-7
Here,
Hsa 5:8-15
Here is,