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9:1  O Israel, rejoice no more as others do, for you have deserted your God and sacrificed to other gods on every threshing floor.
9:2  Therefore your harvests will be small; your grapes will blight upon the vine.
9:3  You may no longer stay here in this land of God; you will be carried off to Egypt and Assyria and live there on scraps of food.
9:4  There, far from home, you are not allowed to pour out wine for sacrifice to God. For no sacrifice that is offered there can please him; it is polluted, just as food of mourners is; all who eat such sacrifices are defiled. They may eat this food to feed themselves, but may not offer it to God.
9:5  What then will you do on holy days, on days of feasting to the Lord,
9:6  when you are carried off to Assyria as slaves? Who will inherit your possessions left behind? Egypt will! She will gather your dead; Memphis will bury them. And thorns and thistles will grow up among the ruins.
9:7  The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of recompense is almost here, and soon Israel will know it all too well. “The prophets are crazy”; “The inspired men are mad.” Yes, so they mock, for the nation is weighted with sin and shows only hatred for those who love God.
9:8  “I appointed the prophets to guard my people, but the people have blocked them at every turn and publicly declared their hatred, even in the Temple of the Lord.
9:9  The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago. The Lord does not forget. He will surely punish them.
9:10  “O Israel, how well I remember those first delightful days when I led you through the wilderness! How refreshing was your love! How satisfying, like the early figs of summer in their first season! But then you deserted me for Baal-peor, to give yourselves to other gods, and soon you were as foul as they.
9:11  The glory of Israel flies away like a bird, for your children will die at birth, or perish in the womb, or never even be conceived.
9:12  And if your children grow, I will take them from you; all are doomed. Yes, it will be a sad day when I turn away and leave you alone.”
9:13  In my vision I have seen the sons of Israel doomed. The fathers are forced to lead their sons to slaughter.
9:14  O Lord, what shall I ask for your people? I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth, for breasts that cannot nourish.
9:15  “All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their idolatry. I will love them no more, for all their leaders are rebels.
9:16  Ephraim is doomed. The roots of Israel are dried up; she shall bear no more fruit. And if she gives birth, I will slay even her beloved child.”
9:17  My God will destroy the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be wandering Jews, homeless among the nations.