Book of Hosea Chapter 5Vs. 9

 Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah

Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. Hos. 5:9

shall be desolate... In the upcoming invasion Ephraim would be devastated. Rather than leading Ephraim into battle, Benjamin would be pursued by the same invader. The line might be paraphrased, behind you, O Benjamin, Ephraim’s conqueror advances. It shall not be lightly rebuked, nor even more grievously chastened; it shall not simply be wasted by famine, pestilence, and the sword; it shall be not simply desolate, but a desolation, one waste, in the day of rebuke, when God brings home to it its sin and punishment. Ephraim was not taken away for a time; it was never restored.

shall surely be... The desolation of Ephraim was certain to take place because it had been announced by the Lord, whose word is inviolable (I proclaim what is certain). This coming judgment would fulfill the covenant curse in Lev. 26:32-35.

Ephraim must suffer because of the institutions of Omri and Ahab, Hos. 5:11; and Judah, because her princes were grasping and fraudulent.

Doubt not that this which I say shall come upon thee, for it is a sure saying which I have made known; literally, one well-grounded, as it was, in the mind, the justice, the holiness, the truth of God. All God's threatenings or promises are grounded in past experience.

So it may also be, as though God said, Whatever I have hitherto promised or threatened to Israel has come to pass. In all I have proved Myself true. Let no one then flatter himself, as though this were uncertain, for in this, as in the rest, I shall be found to be God, faithful and true.

This just speaks of the surety of the coming battle and their captivity. God has given them ample warning, and they have not taken heed.

The desolation of Ephraim was certain to take place because it had been announced by the Lord, whose word is inviolable (I proclaim what is certain). This coming judgment would fulfill the covenant curse in Lev. 26:32-35.