“Blow(A) the ram’s horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah!
(B)Cry aloud at (C)Beth Aven,
Look behind you, O Benjamin!’
Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.

10 “The princes of Judah are like those who (D)remove a landmark;
I will pour out My wrath on them like water.
11 Ephraim is (E)oppressed and broken in judgment,
Because he willingly walked by (F)human precept.
12 Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth,
And to the house of Judah (G)like rottenness.

13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah saw his (H)wound,
Then Ephraim went (I)to Assyria
And sent to King Jareb;
Yet he cannot cure you,
Nor heal you of your wound.
14 For (J)I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
(K)I, even I, will tear them and go away;
I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.
15 I will return again to My place
Till they [a]acknowledge their offense.
Then they will seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

A Call to Repentance

Come,(L) and let us return to the Lord;
For (M)He has torn, but (N)He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will [b]bind us up.
(O)After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
(P)Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established (Q)as the morning;
(R)He will come to us (S)like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

Impenitence of Israel and Judah

“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?
O Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
And like the early dew it goes away.
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have slain them by (T)the words of My mouth;
And [c]your judgments are like light that goes forth.
For I desire (U)mercy[d] and (V)not sacrifice,
And the (W)knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

“But like [e]men they transgressed the covenant;
There they dealt treacherously with Me.
(X)Gilead is a city of evildoers
And [f]defiled with blood.
As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man,
So the company of (Y)priests (Z)murder on the way to Shechem;
Surely they commit (AA)lewdness.
10 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel:
There is the [g]harlotry of Ephraim;
Israel is defiled.
11 Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you,
When I return the captives of My people.

Israel Has Rebelled Against God

“When I would have healed Israel,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria.
For (AB)they have committed fraud;
A thief comes in;
A band of robbers [h]takes spoil outside.
They [i]do not consider in their hearts
That (AC)I remember all their wickedness;
Now their own deeds have surrounded them;
They are before My face.
They make a (AD)king glad with their wickedness,
And princes (AE)with their lies.

“They(AF) are all adulterers.
Like an oven heated by a baker—
He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough,
Until it is leavened.
In the day of our king
Princes have made him sick, [j]inflamed with (AG)wine;
He stretched out his hand with scoffers.
They prepare their heart like an oven,
While they lie in wait;
[k]Their baker sleeps all night;
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
They are all hot, like an oven,
And have devoured their judges;
All their kings have fallen.
(AH)None among them calls upon Me.

“Ephraim (AI)has mixed himself among the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake unturned.
(AJ)Aliens have devoured his strength,
But he does not know it;
Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him,
Yet he does not know it.
10 And the (AK)pride of Israel testifies to his face,
But (AL)they do not return to the Lord their God,
Nor seek Him for all this.

Futile Reliance on the Nations

11 “Ephraim(AM) also is like a silly dove, without [l]sense—
(AN)They call to Egypt,
They go to (AO)Assyria.
12 Wherever they go, I will (AP)spread My net on them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will chastise them
(AQ)According to what their congregation has heard.

13 “Woe to them, for they have fled from Me!
Destruction to them,
Because they have transgressed against Me!
Though (AR)I redeemed them,
Yet they have spoken lies against Me.
14 (AS)They did not cry out to Me with their heart
When they wailed upon their beds.

“They [m]assemble together for grain and new (AT)wine,
[n]They rebel against Me;
15 Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms,
Yet they devise evil against Me;
16 They return, but not [o]to the Most High;
(AU)They are like a treacherous bow.
Their princes shall fall by the sword
For the (AV)cursings of their tongue.
This shall be their derision (AW)in the land of Egypt.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 5:15 Lit. become guilty or bear punishment
  2. Hosea 6:1 Bandage
  3. Hosea 6:5 Or the judgments on you
  4. Hosea 6:6 Or faithfulness or loyalty
  5. Hosea 6:7 Or Adam
  6. Hosea 6:8 Lit. foot-tracked
  7. Hosea 6:10 Spiritual adultery
  8. Hosea 7:1 plunders
  9. Hosea 7:2 Lit. do not say to
  10. Hosea 7:5 Lit. with the heat of
  11. Hosea 7:6 So with MT, Vg.; Syr., Tg. Their anger; LXX Ephraim
  12. Hosea 7:11 Lit. heart
  13. Hosea 7:14 So with MT, Tg.; Vg. thought upon; LXX slashed themselves for (cf. 1 Kin. 18:28)
  14. Hosea 7:14 So with MT, Syr., Tg.; LXX omits They rebel against Me; Vg. They departed from Me
  15. Hosea 7:16 Or upward

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

91 He (A)who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide (B)under the shadow of the Almighty.
(C)I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely (D)He shall deliver you from the snare of the [a]fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
(E)He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and [b]buckler.
(F)You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only (G)with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord, who is (H)my refuge,
Even the Most High, (I)your dwelling place,
10 (J)No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 (K)For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall [c]bear you up,
(L)Lest you [d]dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will [e]set him on high, because he has (M)known My name.
15 He shall (N)call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be (O)with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With [f]long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 91:3 One who catches birds in a trap or snare
  2. Psalm 91:4 A small shield
  3. Psalm 91:12 lift
  4. Psalm 91:12 strike
  5. Psalm 91:14 exalt him
  6. Psalm 91:16 Lit. length of days

Bible Gateway Recommends