1The word of the LORD that camea to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah,b Jotham,c Ahazd and Hezekiah,e kings of Judah,f and during the reign of Jeroboamg son of Jehoash1 king of Israel:h
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuousi woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulnessj to the LORD.” 3So he married Gomerk daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel,l because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.m”
6Gomern conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”),o for I will no longer show love to Israel,p that I should at all forgive them. 7Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow,q sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the LORD their God,r will save them.”
8After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah,s Gomer had another son. 9Then the LORD said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.2t
10“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted.u In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’v 11The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together;w they will appoint one leaderx and will come up out of the land,y for great will be the day of Jezreel.3z
1“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’a
Israel Punished and Restored
2“Rebuke your mother,b rebuke her,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterousc look from her face
and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
3Otherwise I will stripd her naked
and make her as bare as on the day she was born;e
I will make her like a desert,f
turn her into a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
4I will not show my love to her children,g
because they are the children of adultery.h
5Their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,i
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’j
6Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.k
7She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.l
Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husbandm as at first,n
for then I was better offo than now.’
8She has not acknowledgedp that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,q
who lavished on her the silver and goldr—
which they used for Baal.s
9“Therefore I will take away my graint when it ripens,
and my new wineu when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
intended to cover her naked body.
10So now I will exposev her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers;w
no one will take her out of my hands.x
11I will stopy all her celebrations:z
her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.a
12I will ruin her vinesb and her fig trees,c
which she said were her pay from her lovers;d
I will make them a thicket,e
and wild animals will devour them.f
13I will punish her for the days
she burned incenseg to the Baals;h
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,i
and went after her lovers,j
but me she forgot,k”
declares the LORD.l
14“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wildernessm
and speak tenderly to her.
15There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor2n a door of hope.
There she will respond3o as in the days of her youth,p
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.q
16“In that day,” declares the LORD,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;r
you will no longer call me ‘my master.4’
17I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;s
no longer will their names be invoked.t
18In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the creatures that move along the ground.u
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolishv from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.w
19I will betrothx you to me forever;
I will betroth you in5 righteousness and justice,y
20I will betroth you in7 faithfulness,
and you will acknowledgea the LORD.b
21“In that day I will respond,”
declares the LORD—
“I will respondc to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth;
22and the earth will respond to the grain,
the new wine and the olive oil,d
and they will respond to Jezreel.8e
23I will plantf her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.9g’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,10’ ‘You are my people’;h
and they will say, ‘You are my God.i’ ”
Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife
1The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.a Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.b”
2So I bought her for fifteen shekels1 of silver and about a homer and a lethek2 of barley. 3Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”
4For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince,c without sacrificed or sacred stones,e without ephodf or household gods.g 5Afterward the Israelites will return and seekh the LORD their God and David their king.i They will come tremblingj to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.k
The Charge Against Israel
1Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,
because the LORD has a chargea to bring
against you who live in the land:b
“There is no faithfulness,c no love,
no acknowledgmentd of God in the land.e
2There is only cursing,1 lyingf and murder,g
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.j
3Because of this the land dries up,k
and all who live in it waste away;l
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.m
4“But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.n
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your motherp—
6my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.q
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the lawr of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God2s for something disgraceful.t
8They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.u
9And it will be: Like people, like priests.v
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.w
10“They will eat but not have enough;x
they will engage in prostitutiony but not flourish,
because they have desertedz the LORD
to give themselves 11to prostitution;a
old wineb and new wine
take away their understanding.c
12My people consult a wooden idol,d
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.e
A spirit of prostitutionf leads them astray;g
they are unfaithfulh to their God.
13They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,i poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.j
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitutionk
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.l Photo
14“I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlotsm
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutesn—
a people without understandingo will come to ruin!p
15“Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;q
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’s
16The Israelites are stubborn,t
like a stubborn heifer.u
How then can the LORD pasture them
like lambsv in a meadow?
17Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19A whirlwindw will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.x
Judgment Against Israel
1“Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
This judgmenta is against you:
You have been a snareb at Mizpah,
a netc spread out on Tabor.
2The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.d
I will discipline all of them.e
3I know all about Ephraim;
Israel is not hiddenf from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
Israel is corrupt.g
4“Their deeds do not permit them
to returnh to their God.
A spirit of prostitutioni is in their heart;
they do not acknowledgej the LORD.
5Israel’s arrogance testifiesk against them;
the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumblel in their sin;
Judah also stumbles with them.m
6When they go with their flocks and herds
to seek the LORD,n
they will not find him;
he has withdrawno himself from them.
7They are unfaithfulp to the LORD;
they give birth to illegitimateq children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,r
he will devour1s their fields.
8“Sound the trumpett in Gibeah,u
the horn in Ramah.v
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven2;w
lead on, Benjamin.
9Ephraim will be laid wastex
on the day of reckoning.y
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.z
10Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.a
I will pour out my wrathb on them
like a flood of water.
11Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
12I am like a mothd to Ephraim,
like rote to the people of Judah.
13“When Ephraimf saw his sickness,
and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,g
and sent to the great king for help.h
But he is not able to curei you,
not able to heal your sores.j
14For I will be like a lionk to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to piecesl and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.m
15Then I will return to my lairn
until they have borne their guilto
and seek my facep—
in their miseryq
they will earnestly seek me.r”
Israel Unrepentant
1“Come, let us returna to the LORD.
He has torn us to piecesb
but he will heal us;c
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.d
2After two days he will revive us;e
on the third dayf he will restoreg us,
that we may live in his presence.
3Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,h
like the spring rains that water the earth.i”
4“What can I do with you, Ephraim?j
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.k
5Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouthl—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.1m
6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,n
and acknowledgmento of God rather than burnt offerings.p
7As at Adam,2 they have broken the covenant;q
they were unfaithfulr to me there.
8Gilead is a city of evildoers,s
stained with footprints of blood.
9As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,t
so do bands of priests;
they murderu on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.v
10I have seen a horriblew thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.x
11“Also for you, Judah,
a harvesty is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunesz of my people,
1whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.a
They practice deceit,b
thieves break into houses,c
bandits rob in the streets;d
2but they do not realize
that I remembere all their evil deeds.f
Their sins engulf them;g
they are always before me.
3“They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.h
4They are all adulterers,i
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,j
and he joins hands with the mockers.k
6Their hearts are like an oven;l
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,m
and none of them callsn on me.
8“Ephraim mixeso with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9Foreigners sap his strength,p
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,q
but despite all this
he does not returnr to the LORD his God
or searchs for him.
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,u
now turning to Assyria.v
12When they go, I will throw my netw over them;
I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
13Woex to them,
because they have strayedy from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about mez falsely.a
14They do not cry out to me from their heartsb
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,1 appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,c
but they turn away from me.d
15I trainede them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evilf against me.
16They do not turn to the Most High;g
they are like a faulty bow.h
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolenti words.
For this they will be ridiculedj
in the land of Egypt.k
Israel to Reap the Whirlwind
1“Put the trumpeta to your lips!
An eagleb is over the house of the LORD
because the people have broken my covenantc
and rebelled against my law.d
2Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.e
4They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.f
With their silver and gold
they make idolsg for themselves
to their own destruction.
5Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!h
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?i
6They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.j
It will be broken in pieces,
7“They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.m
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.n
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.o
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.q
9For they have gone up to Assyriar
like a wild donkeys wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.t
10Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.u
They will begin to waste awayv
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11“Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.w
12I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.x
13Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eaty the meat,
the LORD is not pleased with them.z
Now he will remembera their wickedness
and punish their sins:b
They will return to Egypt.c
14Israel has forgottend their Makere
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”f
Punishment for Israel
1Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilanta like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithfulb to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitutec
at every threshing floor.
2Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wined will fail them.
3They will not remaine in the LORD’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egyptf
and eat unclean food in Assyria.g
4They will not pour out wine offeringsh to the LORD,
nor will their sacrifices pleasei him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;j
all who eat them will be unclean.k
This food will be for themselves;
it will not come into the temple of the LORD.l
5What will you dom on the day of your appointed festivals,n
on the feast days of the LORD?
6Even if they escape from destruction,
Egypt will gather them,o
Their treasures of silverr will be taken over by briers,
and thornss will overrun their tents.
7The days of punishmentt are coming,
the days of reckoningu are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sinsv are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,w
the inspired person a maniac.x
8The prophet, along with my God,
is the watchman over Ephraim,1
yet snaresy await him on all his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.z
9They have sunk deep into corruption,a
as in the days of Gibeah.b
God will rememberc their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.d
10“When I found Israel,
it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the early fruite on the figf tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,g
they consecrated themselves to that shameful idolh
and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11Ephraim’s gloryi will fly away like a birdj—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.k
12Even if they rear children,
I will bereavel them of every one.
Woem to them
when I turn away from them!n
13I have seen Ephraim,o like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place.p
But Ephraim will bring out
their children to the slayer.”q
14Give them, LORD—
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that are dry.r
15“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,s
I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,t
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;u
all their leaders are rebellious.v
16Ephraimw is blighted,
their root is withered,
they yield no fruit.x
Even if they bear children,
I will slayy their cherished offspring.”
because they have not obeyeda him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.b
1Israel was a spreading vine;a
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;b
as his land prospered,c
he adorned his sacred stones.d
and now they must bear their guilt.f
The LORD will demolish their altarsg
and destroy their sacred stones.h
3Then they will say, “We have no king
because we did not revere the LORD.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?”
4They make many promises,
take false oathsi
and make agreements;j
therefore lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weedsk in a plowed field.
5The people who live in Samaria fear
for the calf-idoll of Beth Aven.1m
Its people will mourn over it,
and so will its idolatrous priests,n
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
because it is taken from them into exile.o
6It will be carried to Assyriap
as tributeq for the great king.r
Ephraim will be disgraced;s
Israel will be ashamedt of its foreign alliances.
7Samaria’s king will be destroyed,u
swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8The high placesv of wickedness2w will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel.
Thornsx and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.y
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”z
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”a
9“Since the days of Gibeah,b you have sinned,c Israel,
and there you have remained.3
Will not war again overtake
the evildoers in Gibeah?
10When I please, I will punishd them;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bonds for their double sin.
11Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yokee
on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
Judah must plow,
and Jacob must break up the ground.
12Sowf righteousnessg for yourselves,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;h
for it is time to seeki the LORD,
until he comes
and showers his righteousnessj on you.
13But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,k
you have eaten the fruit of deception.l
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,m
14the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastatedn—
as Shalmano devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.p
15So will it happen to you, Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.q
God’s Love for Israel
1“When Israel was a child,a I lovedb him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.c
2But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.1d
They sacrificed to the Baalse
and they burned incense to images.f
3It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;g
but they did not realize
it was I who healedh them.
4I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.i
To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feedj them.k
5“Will they not return to Egyptl
and will not Assyriam rule over them
because they refuse to repent?n
6A swordo will flash in their cities;
it will devourp their false prophets
and put an end to their plans.
7My people are determined to turnq from me.r
Even though they call me God Most High,
I will by no means exalt them.
8“How can I give you up,s Ephraim?t
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?u
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassionv is aroused.w
9I will not carry out my fierce anger,x
nor will I devastatey Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a manz—
the Holy Onea among you.
I will not come against their cities.
10They will follow the LORD;
When he roars,
his children will come tremblingd from the west.e
11They will come from Egypt,
trembling like sparrows,
from Assyria,f fluttering like doves.g
I will settle them in their homes,”h
declares the LORD.
Israel’s Sin
he pursues the east wind all day
and multiplies lies and violence.c
He makes a treaty with Assyriad
and sends olive oil to Egypt.e
2The LORD has a chargef to bring against Judah;g
he will punishh Jacob2 according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.i
3In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;j
as a man he struggledk with God.
4He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethell
and talked with him there—
5the LORD God Almighty,
the LORD is his name!m
6But you must returnn to your God;
maintain love and justice,o
and wait for your God always.p
7The merchant uses dishonest scalesq
and loves to defraud.
8Ephraim boasts,r
“I am very rich; I have become wealthy.s
With all my wealth they will not find in me
any iniquity or sin.”
9“I have been the LORD your God
ever since you came out of Egypt;t
I will make you live in tentsu again,
as in the days of your appointed festivals.
10I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parablesv through them.”w
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?y
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.z
12Jacob fled to the country of Aram3;a
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.b
13The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,c
by a prophet he cared for him.d
14But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshede
and will repay him for his contempt.f
The LORD’s Anger Against Israel
1When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;a
he was exaltedb in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worshipc and died.
2Now they sin more and more;
they maked idols for themselves from their silver,e
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.f
It is said of these people,
“They offer human sacrifices!
3Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,i
like chaffj swirling from a threshing floor,k
like smokel escaping through a window.
4“But I have been the LORD your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.m
You shall acknowledgen no God but me,o
no Saviorp except me.
5I cared for you in the wilderness,q
in the land of burning heat.
6When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;r
7So I will be like a lionu to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8Like a bear robbed of her cubs,v
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lionw I will devour them—
a wild animal will tear them apart.x
9“You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me,y against your helper.z
10Where is your king,a that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?b
11So in my anger I gave you a king,c
and in my wrath I took him away.d
12The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.e
13Pains as of a woman in childbirthf come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the timeg arrives,
he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.h
14“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;i
I will redeem them from death.j
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?k
“I will have no compassion,
15even though he thrivesl among his brothers.
An east windm from the LORD will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.n
His storehouse will be plunderedo
of all its treasures.
16The people of Samariap must bear their guilt,q
because they have rebelledr against their God.
They will fall by the sword;s
their little ones will be dashedt to the ground,
Repentance to Bring Blessing
1Return,a Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sinsb have been your downfall!c
2Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
“Forgived all our sins
and receive us graciously,e
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.2f
we will not mount warhorses.h
We will never again say ‘Our gods’i
to what our own hands have made,j
for in you the fatherlessk find compassion.”
4“I will heall their waywardnessm
and love them freely,n
for my anger has turned awayo from them.
5I will be like the dewp to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.q
Like a cedar of Lebanonr
he will send down his roots;s
6his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,t
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.u
7People will dwell again in his shade;v
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossomw like the vine—
Israel’s fame will be like the winex of Lebanon.y
8Ephraim, what more have I3 to do with idols?z
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;a
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
9Who is wise?b Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.c
The ways of the LORD are right;d
the righteous walke in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.