Hosea 9:16
Ephraim 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. Ephraim 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.
Hosea 9:16 stands within Hosea's appeal to God's backslidden people. They had intermingled with other peoples. From that mingling they had produced disloyal children who were vulnerable to temptation.