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Hosea 1-7
English Standard Version
Hosea 1-7
English Standard Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, (A)in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of (B)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
Hosea's Wife and Children
2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, (C)“Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have (D)children of whoredom, for (E)the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while (F)I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and (G)I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day (H)I will break the bow of Israel (I)in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, (J)“Call her name No Mercy,[a] for (K)I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But (L)I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I (M)will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, (N)“Call his name Not My People,[b] for (O)you are not my people, and I am not your God.”[c]
10 [d] Yet (P)the number of the children of Israel shall be (Q)like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. (R)And (S)in the place where it was said to them, (T)“You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, (U)“Children[e] of (V)the living God.” 11 And (W)the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and (X)they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished
2 [f] Say to your brothers, (Y)“You are my people,”[g] and to your sisters, (Z)“You have received mercy.”[h]
2 “Plead with your mother, plead—
for (AA)she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband—
that she put away (AB)her whoring from her face,
and her adultery from between her breasts;
3 lest (AC)I strip her naked
and make her as (AD)in the day she was born,
and (AE)make her like a wilderness,
and make her like a parched land,
and kill her with thirst.
4 (AF)Upon her children also I will have no mercy,
(AG)because they are children of whoredom.
5 For (AH)their mother has played the whore;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For (AI)she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
who (AJ)give me my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
6 Therefore (AK)I will hedge up her[i] way with thorns,
and (AL)I will build a wall against her,
so that she cannot find her paths.
7 She shall pursue her lovers
but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
but shall not find them.
(AM)Then she shall say,
‘I will go and return to (AN)my first husband,
(AO)for it was better for me then than now.’
8 And (AP)she did not know
that it was (AQ)I who gave her
(AR)the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on (AS)her silver and gold,
(AT)which they used for Baal.
9 Therefore (AU)I will take back
my grain in its time,
and my wine in its season,
and (AV)I will take away my wool and my flax,
which were to cover her nakedness.
10 Now (AW)I will uncover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
11 (AX)And I will put an end to all her mirth,
her feasts, her (AY)new moons, her (AZ)Sabbaths,
and all her (BA)appointed feasts.
12 And (BB)I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
(BC)of which she said,
‘These are (BD)my wages,
which my lovers have given me.’
I will make them a forest,
(BE)and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
13 And (BF)I will punish her for (BG)the feast days of the Baals
when she burned offerings to them
and (BH)adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,
and went after her lovers
and forgot me, declares the Lord.
The Lord's Mercy on Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and (BI)bring her into the wilderness,
and (BJ)speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor[j] a door of hope.
And there she shall answer (BK)as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 “And (BL)in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For (BM)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And (BN)I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And (BO)I will abolish[k] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in (BP)safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me (BQ)forever. (BR)I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 (BS)I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And (BT)you shall know the Lord.
21 “And (BU)in that day (BV)I will answer, declares the Lord,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer (BW)Jezreel,[l]
23 and (BX)I will sow her for myself in the land.
And (BY)I (BZ)will have mercy on No Mercy,[m]
and (CA)I will say to Not My People,[n] (CB)‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”
Hosea Redeems His Wife
3 And the Lord said to me, (CC)“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a (CD)homer and a lethech[o] of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must (CE)dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel (CF)shall dwell many days (CG)without king or prince, (CH)without sacrifice or (CI)pillar, without (CJ)ephod or (CK)household gods. 5 Afterward (CL)the children of Israel shall return and (CM)seek the Lord their God, and (CN)David their king, (CO)and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the (CP)latter days.
The Lord Accuses Israel
4 (CQ)Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for (CR)the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and (CS)no knowledge of God in the land;
2 (CT)there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and (CU)bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore (CV)the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
(CW)and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
(CX)and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
4 (CY)Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is (CZ)my contention, O priest.[p]
5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy (DA)your mother.
6 My people are destroyed (DB)for lack of knowledge;
(DC)because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you (DD)from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
(DE)I also will forget your children.
7 (DF)The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
(DG)I will change their glory into shame.
8 (DH)They feed on the sin[q] of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
9 (DI)And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10 (DJ)They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine,
which (DK)take away the understanding.
12 My people (DL)inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For (DM)a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
13 (DN)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
(DO)under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for (DP)the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with (DQ)cult prostitutes,
and a people (DR)without understanding shall come to ruin.
15 Though you play the whore, O (DS)Israel,
let not (DT)Judah become guilty.
(DU)Enter not into (DV)Gilgal,
nor go up to (DW)Beth-aven,
and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
16 Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
17 (DX)Ephraim is joined to idols;
(DY)leave him alone.
18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
(DZ)their rulers[r] dearly love shame.
19 (EA)A wind has wrapped them[s] in its wings,
and they shall (EB)be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah
5 (EC)Hear this, O priests!
Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For the judgment is for you;
for (ED)you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread upon (EE)Tabor.
2 And (EF)the revolters (EG)have gone deep into slaughter,
but (EH)I will discipline all of them.
3 (EI)I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
Israel is defiled.
4 (EJ)Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
For (EK)the spirit of whoredom is within them,
and they know not the Lord.
5 (EL)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;[t]
Israel and (EM)Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
(EN)Judah also shall stumble with them.
6 (EO)With their flocks and herds they shall go
to seek the Lord,
(EP)but they will not find him;
(EQ)he has withdrawn from them.
7 (ER)They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;
for they have borne alien children.
Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.
8 (ES)Blow the horn in (ET)Gibeah,
the trumpet in (EU)Ramah.
Sound the alarm at (EV)Beth-aven;
we follow you,[u] O Benjamin!
9 Ephraim shall become a desolation
in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
I make known what is sure.
10 The princes of Judah have become
like (EW)those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
my wrath like water.
11 Ephraim is (EX)oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after filth.[v]
12 But I am (EY)like a moth to Ephraim,
and (EZ)like dry rot to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah (FA)his wound,
then Ephraim went (FB)to Assyria,
and sent to the great king.[w]
(FC)But he is not able to cure you
or heal (FD)your wound.
14 For I will be (FE)like a lion to (FF)Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of (FG)Judah.
(FH)I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
15 (FI)I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and (FJ)in their distress earnestly seek me.
Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant
6 “Come, let us (FK)return to the Lord;
for (FL)he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and (FM)he will bind us up.
2 After two days (FN)he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 (FO)Let us know; (FP)let us press on to know the Lord;
(FQ)his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us (FR)as the showers,
(FS)as the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 What shall I do with you, (FT)O (FU)Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O (FV)Judah?
Your love is (FW)like a morning cloud,
(FX)like the dew that goes early away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them (FY)by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For (FZ)I desire steadfast love[x] and not sacrifice,
(GA)the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 But (GB)like Adam they (GC)transgressed the covenant;
(GD)there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 (GE)Gilead is a city of evildoers,
(GF)tracked with blood.
9 As robbers (GG)lie in wait for a man,
so the priests band together;
they murder on the way to (GH)Shechem;
they commit villainy.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
(GI)Ephraim's whoredom is there; (GJ)Israel is defiled.
When (GM)I restore the fortunes of my people,
7 (GN)when I would heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
and the evil deeds of (GO)Samaria,
for (GP)they deal falsely;
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid outside.
2 But they do not consider
that (GQ)I remember all their evil.
Now (GR)their deeds surround them;
(GS)they are before my face.
3 By their evil (GT)they make (GU)the king glad,
and the princes by their treachery.
4 (GV)They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
from the kneading of the dough
until it is leavened.
5 On the day of (GW)our king, the princes
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6 For with hearts like an oven (GX)they approach their intrigue;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All (GY)their kings (GZ)have fallen,
and none of them calls upon me.
8 Ephraim (HA)mixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 (HB)Strangers devour his strength,
and (HC)he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and (HD)he knows it not.
10 (HE)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;[y]
(HF)yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek him, for all this.
11 Ephraim is like a dove,
(HG)silly and without sense,
calling to (HH)Egypt, going to (HI)Assyria.
12 As they go, (HJ)I will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
(HK)I will discipline them (HL)according to the report made to their congregation.
13 (HM)Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
(HN)I would redeem them,
but (HO)they speak lies against me.
14 (HP)They do not cry to me from the heart,
but (HQ)they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
15 Although (HR)I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16 They (HS)return, but not upward;[z]
they are (HT)like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of (HU)the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision (HV)in the land of Egypt.
Footnotes
- Hosea 1:6 Hebrew Lo-ruhama, which means she has not received mercy
- Hosea 1:9 Hebrew Lo-ammi, which means not my people
- Hosea 1:9 Hebrew I am not yours
- Hosea 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
- Hosea 1:10 Or Sons
- Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Hebrew
- Hosea 2:1 Hebrew ammi, which means my people
- Hosea 2:1 Hebrew ruhama, which means she has received mercy
- Hosea 2:6 Hebrew your
- Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble; compare Joshua 7:26
- Hosea 2:18 Hebrew break
- Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God will sow
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ruhama
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ammi
- Hosea 3:2 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; a lethech was about 3 bushels or 110 liters
- Hosea 4:4 Or for your people are like those who contend with the priest
- Hosea 4:8 Or sin offering
- Hosea 4:18 Hebrew shields
- Hosea 4:19 Hebrew her
- Hosea 5:5 Or in his presence
- Hosea 5:8 Or after you
- Hosea 5:11 Or to follow human precepts
- Hosea 5:13 Or to King Jareb
- Hosea 6:6 Septuagint mercy
- Hosea 7:10 Or in his presence
- Hosea 7:16 Or to the Most High
Hosea 1-7
New International Version
Hosea 1-7
New International Version
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah,(B) Jotham,(C) Ahaz(D) and Hezekiah,(E) kings of Judah,(F) and during the reign of Jeroboam(G) son of Jehoash[a] king of Israel:(H)
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous(I) woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness(J) to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer(K) daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 Then 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. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.(M)”
6 Gomer(N) 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. 7 Yet 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.”
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah,(S) Gomer had another son. 9 Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.[b](T)
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) 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together;(W) they will appoint one leader(X) and will come up out of the land,(Y) for great will be the day of Jezreel.[c](Z)
2 [d]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’(AA)
Israel Punished and Restored
2 “Rebuke your mother,(AB) rebuke her,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous(AC) look from her face
and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
3 Otherwise I will strip(AD) her naked
and make her as bare as on the day she was born;(AE)
I will make her like a desert,(AF)
turn her into a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
4 I will not show my love to her children,(AG)
because they are the children of adultery.(AH)
5 Their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(AI)
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(AJ)
6 Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.(AK)
7 She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.(AL)
Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husband(AM) as at first,(AN)
for then I was better off(AO) than now.’
8 She has not acknowledged(AP) that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,(AQ)
who lavished on her the silver and gold(AR)—
which they used for Baal.(AS)
9 “Therefore I will take away my grain(AT) when it ripens,
and my new wine(AU) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
intended to cover her naked body.
10 So now I will expose(AV) her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers;(AW)
no one will take her out of my hands.(AX)
11 I will stop(AY) all her celebrations:(AZ)
her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.(BA)
12 I will ruin her vines(BB) and her fig trees,(BC)
which she said were her pay from her lovers;(BD)
I will make them a thicket,(BE)
and wild animals will devour them.(BF)
13 I will punish her for the days
she burned incense(BG) to the Baals;(BH)
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,(BI)
and went after her lovers,(BJ)
but me she forgot,(BK)”
declares the Lord.(BL)
14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness(BM)
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor[e](BN) a door of hope.
There she will respond[f](BO) as in the days of her youth,(BP)
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(BQ)
16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;(BR)
you will no longer call me ‘my master.[g]’
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(BS)
no longer will their names be invoked.(BT)
18 In 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.(BU)
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolish(BV) from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.(BW)
19 I will betroth(BX) you to me forever;
I will betroth you in[h] righteousness and justice,(BY)
in[i] love and compassion.(BZ)
20 I will betroth you in[j] faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge(CA) the Lord.(CB)
21 “In that day I will respond,”
declares the Lord—
“I will respond(CC) to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
the new wine and the olive oil,(CD)
and they will respond to Jezreel.[k](CE)
23 I will plant(CF) her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[l](CG)’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[m]’ ‘You are my people’;(CH)
and they will say, ‘You are my God.(CI)’”
Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife
3 The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.(CJ) Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.(CK)”
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels[n] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[o] of barley. 3 Then 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.”
4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince,(CL) without sacrifice(CM) or sacred stones,(CN) without ephod(CO) or household gods.(CP) 5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek(CQ) the Lord their God and David their king.(CR) They will come trembling(CS) to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.(CT)
The Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge(CU) to bring
against you who live in the land:(CV)
“There is no faithfulness,(CW) no love,
no acknowledgment(CX) of God in the land.(CY)
2 There is only cursing,[p] lying(CZ) and murder,(DA)
stealing(DB) and adultery;(DC)
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.(DD)
3 Because of this the land dries up,(DE)
and all who live in it waste away;(DF)
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.(DG)
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.(DH)
5 You stumble(DI) day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother(DJ)—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(DK)
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(DL) of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God[q](DM) for something disgraceful.(DN)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.(DO)
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.(DP)
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.(DQ)
10 “They will eat but not have enough;(DR)
they will engage in prostitution(DS) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(DT) the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(DU)
old wine(DV) and new wine
take away their understanding.(DW)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,(DX)
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.(DY)
A spirit of prostitution(DZ) leads them astray;(EA)
they are unfaithful(EB) to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,(EC) poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.(ED)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution(EE)
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.(EF)
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 harlots(EG)
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(EH)—
a people without understanding(EI) will come to ruin!(EJ)
15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;(EK)
do not go up to Beth Aven.[r](EL)
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’(EM)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,(EN)
like a stubborn heifer.(EO)
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs(EP) in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind(EQ) will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.(ER)
Judgment Against Israel
5 “Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
This judgment(ES) is against you:
You have been a snare(ET) at Mizpah,
a net(EU) spread out on Tabor.
2 The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.(EV)
I will discipline all of them.(EW)
3 I know all about Ephraim;
Israel is not hidden(EX) from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
Israel is corrupt.(EY)
4 “Their deeds do not permit them
to return(EZ) to their God.
A spirit of prostitution(FA) is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge(FB) the Lord.
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies(FC) against them;
the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble(FD) in their sin;
Judah also stumbles with them.(FE)
6 When they go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord,(FF)
they will not find him;
he has withdrawn(FG) himself from them.
7 They are unfaithful(FH) to the Lord;
they give birth to illegitimate(FI) children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,(FJ)
he will devour[s](FK) their fields.
8 “Sound the trumpet(FL) in Gibeah,(FM)
the horn in Ramah.(FN)
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven[t];(FO)
lead on, Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will be laid waste(FP)
on the day of reckoning.(FQ)
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.(FR)
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.(FS)
I will pour out my wrath(FT) on them
like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
intent on pursuing idols.[u](FU)
12 I am like a moth(FV) to Ephraim,
like rot(FW) to the people of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim(FX) saw his sickness,
and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,(FY)
and sent to the great king for help.(FZ)
But he is not able to cure(GA) you,
not able to heal your sores.(GB)
14 For I will be like a lion(GC) to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces(GD) and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.(GE)
15 Then I will return to my lair(GF)
until they have borne their guilt(GG)
and seek my face(GH)—
in their misery(GI)
they will earnestly seek me.(GJ)”
Israel Unrepentant
6 “Come, let us return(GK) to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces(GL)
but he will heal us;(GM)
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.(GN)
2 After two days he will revive us;(GO)
on the third day(GP) he will restore(GQ) us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let 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,(GR)
like the spring rains that water the earth.(GS)”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?(GT)
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.(GU)
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth(GV)—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[v](GW)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(GX)
and acknowledgment(GY) of God rather than burnt offerings.(GZ)
7 As at Adam,[w] they have broken the covenant;(HA)
they were unfaithful(HB) to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,(HC)
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,(HD)
so do bands of priests;
they murder(HE) on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.(HF)
10 I have seen a horrible(HG) thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.(HH)
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest(HI) is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes(HJ) of my people,
7 1 whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(HK)
They practice deceit,(HL)
thieves break into houses,(HM)
bandits rob in the streets;(HN)
2 but they do not realize
that I remember(HO) all their evil deeds.(HP)
Their sins engulf them;(HQ)
they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.(HR)
4 They are all adulterers,(HS)
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,(HT)
and he joins hands with the mockers.(HU)
6 Their hearts are like an oven;(HV)
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(HW)
and none of them calls(HX) on me.
8 “Ephraim mixes(HY) with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,(HZ)
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(IA)
but despite all this
he does not return(IB) to the Lord his God
or search(IC) for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(ID)
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(IE)
now turning to Assyria.(IF)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(IG) over them;
I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
13 Woe(IH) to them,
because they have strayed(II) from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me(IJ) falsely.(IK)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(IL)
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[x] appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,(IM)
but they turn away from me.(IN)
15 I trained(IO) them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil(IP) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(IQ)
they are like a faulty bow.(IR)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent(IS) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(IT)
in the land of Egypt.(IU)
Footnotes
- Hosea 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash
- Hosea 1:9 Or your I am
- Hosea 1:11 In Hebrew texts 1:10,11 is numbered 2:1,2.
- Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.
- Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
- Hosea 2:15 Or sing
- Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
- Hosea 2:19 Or with
- Hosea 2:19 Or with
- Hosea 2:20 Or with
- Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)
- Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
- Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.
- Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on
- Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory
- Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 5:7 Or Now their New Moon feasts / will devour them and
- Hosea 5:8 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings
- Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together
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