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Hosea 4-11
Good News Translation
Hosea 4-11
Good News Translation
The Lord's Accusation against Israel
4 The Lord has an accusation to bring against the people who live in this land. Listen, Israel, to what he says: “There is no faithfulness or love in the land, and the people do not acknowledge me as God. 2 They make promises and break them; they lie, murder, steal, and commit adultery. Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another. 3 And so the land will dry up, and everything that lives on it will die. All the animals and birds, and even the fish, will die.”
The Lord Accuses the Priests
4 The Lord says, “Let no one accuse the people or reprimand them—my complaint is against you priests.[a] 5 Night and day you blunder on, and the prophets do no better than you. I am going to destroy Israel, your mother. 6 My people are doomed because they do not acknowledge me. You priests have refused to acknowledge me and have rejected my teaching, and so I reject you and will not acknowledge your sons as my priests.
7 “The more of you priests there are, the more you sin against me, and so I will turn your honor into disgrace. 8 You grow rich from the sins of my people, and so you want them to sin more and more. 9 You will suffer the same punishment as the people! I will punish you and make you pay for the evil you do. 10 You will eat your share of the sacrifices, but still be hungry. You will worship the fertility gods, but still have no children, because you have turned away from me to follow other gods.”
The Lord Condemns Pagan Worship
11 The Lord says, “Wine, both old and new, is robbing my people of their senses! 12 They ask for revelations from a piece of wood! A stick tells them what they want to know! They have left me. Like a woman who becomes a prostitute, they have given themselves to other gods. 13 At sacred places on the mountaintops they offer sacrifices, and on the hills they burn incense under tall, spreading trees, because the shade is so pleasant!
“As a result, your daughters serve as prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 14 Yet I will not punish them for this, because you yourselves go off with temple prostitutes,[b] and together with them you offer pagan sacrifices. As the proverb says, ‘A people without sense will be ruined.’
15 “Even though you people of Israel are unfaithful to me, may Judah not be guilty of the same thing. Don't worship at Gilgal or Bethaven,[c] or make promises there in the name of the living Lord. 16 The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules. How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow? 17 The people of Israel are under the spell of idols. Let them go their own way. 18 After drinking much wine, they delight in their prostitution, preferring disgrace to honor. 19 They will be carried away as by the wind, and they will be ashamed of their pagan sacrifices.[d][e]
5 “Listen to this, you priests! Pay attention, people of Israel! Listen, you that belong to the royal family! You are supposed to judge with justice—so judgment will fall on you! You have become a trap at Mizpah, a net spread on Mount Tabor, 2 a deep pit at Acacia City,[f] and I will punish all of you. 3 I know what Israel is like—she cannot hide from me. She has been unfaithful, and her people are unfit to worship me.”
Hosea Warns against Idolatry
4 The evil that the people have done keeps them from returning to their God. Idolatry has a powerful hold on them, and they do not acknowledge the Lord. 5 The arrogance of the people of Israel cries out against them. Their sins make them stumble and fall, and the people of Judah fall with them. 6 They take their sheep and cattle to offer as sacrifices to the Lord, but it does them no good. They cannot find him, for he has left them. 7 They have been unfaithful to the Lord; their children do not belong to him. So now they and their lands will soon be destroyed.
War between Judah and Israel
8 Blow the war trumpets in Gibeah! Sound the alarm in Ramah! Raise the war cry at Bethaven![g] Into battle, men of Benjamin! 9 The day of punishment is coming, and Israel will be ruined. People of Israel, this will surely happen!
10 The Lord says, “I am angry because the leaders of Judah have invaded Israel and stolen land from her. So I will pour out punishment on them like a flood. 11 Israel is suffering oppression; she has lost land that was rightfully hers, because she insisted on going for help to those who had none to give.[h] 12 I will bring destruction on Israel and ruin on the people of Judah.
13 “When Israel saw how sick she was and when Judah saw her own wounds, then Israel went to Assyria to ask the great emperor for help, but he could not cure them or heal their wounds. 14 I will attack the people of Israel and Judah like a lion. I myself will tear them to pieces and then leave them. When I drag them off, no one will be able to save them.
15 “I will abandon my people until they have suffered enough for their sins and come looking for me. Perhaps in their suffering they will try to find me.”
The People's Insincere Repentance
6 The people say, “Let's return to the Lord! He has hurt us, but he will be sure to heal us; he has wounded us, but he will bandage our wounds, won't he? 2 In two or three days he will revive us, and we will live in his presence. 3 Let us try to know the Lord. He will come to us as surely as the day dawns, as surely as the spring rains fall upon the earth.”
4 But the Lord says, “Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew, that vanishes early in the day. 5 That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction. What I want from you is plain and clear: 6 (A)I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.
7 “But as soon as they entered the land at Adam,[i] they broke the covenant I had made with them. 8 Gilead is a city full of evil people and murderers. 9 The priests are like a gang of robbers who wait in ambush for someone. Even on the road to the holy place at Shechem they commit murder. And they do all this evil deliberately! 10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: my people have defiled themselves by worshiping idols.
11 “And as for you, people of Judah, I have set a time to punish you also for what you are doing.
7 “Whenever I want to heal my people Israel and make them prosperous again, all I can see is their wickedness and the evil they do. They cheat one another; they break into houses and steal; they rob people in the streets. 2 It never enters their heads that I will remember all this evil; but their sins surround them, and I cannot avoid seeing them.”
Conspiracy in the Palace
3 The Lord says, “People deceive the king and his officers by their evil plots. 4 They are all treacherous and disloyal. Their hatred smolders like the fire in an oven, which is not stirred by the baker until the dough is ready to bake. 5 On the day of the king's celebration they made the king and his officials drunk and foolish with wine. 6 Yes, they burned[j] like an oven with their plotting. All night their anger smoldered, and in the morning it burst into flames.
7 “In the heat of their anger they murdered their rulers. Their kings have been assassinated one after another, but no one prays to me for help.”
Israel and the Nations
8 The Lord says, “The people of Israel are like a half-baked loaf of bread. They rely on the nations around them 9 and do not realize that this reliance on foreigners has robbed them of their strength. Their days are numbered, but they don't even know it. 10 The arrogance of the people of Israel cries out against them. In spite of everything that has happened, they have not returned to me, the Lord their God. 11 Israel flits around like a silly pigeon; first her people call on Egypt for help, and then they run to Assyria! 12 But I will spread out a net and catch them like birds as they go by. I will punish them for the evil they have done.[k]
13 “They are doomed! They have left me and rebelled against me. They will be destroyed. I wanted to save them, but their worship of me was false. 14 They have not prayed to me sincerely, but instead they throw themselves down and wail as the heathen do. When they pray for grain and wine, they gash themselves like pagans. What rebels they are! 15 Even though I was the one who brought them up and made them strong, they plotted against me. 16 They keep on turning away from me to a god that is powerless.[l] They are as unreliable as a crooked bow. Because their leaders talk arrogantly, they will die a violent death, and the Egyptians will laugh.”
The Lord Condemns Israel for Idol Worship
8 The Lord says, “Sound the alarm! Enemies are swooping down on my land like eagles! My people have broken the covenant I made with them and have rebelled against my teaching. 2 Even though they call me their God and claim that they are my people and that they know me, 3 they have rejected what is good. Because of this their enemies will pursue them.
4 “My people chose kings, but they did it on their own. They appointed leaders, but without my approval. They took their silver and gold and made idols—for their own destruction. 5 I hate the gold bull worshiped by the people of the city of Samaria. I am furious with them. How long will it be before they give up their idolatry? 6 An Israelite craftsman made the idol, and it is not a god at all! The gold bull worshiped in Samaria will be smashed to pieces! 7 When they sow the wind, they will reap a storm! A field of grain that doesn't ripen can never produce any bread. But even if it did, foreigners would eat it up. 8 Israel has become like any other nation and is as useless as a broken pot. 9 Stubborn as wild donkeys, the people of Israel go their own way. They have gone off to seek help from Assyria and have paid other nations to protect them. 10 But now I am going to gather them together and punish them. Soon they will writhe in pain when the emperor of Assyria oppresses them.
11 “The more altars the people of Israel build for removing sin, the more places they have for sinning! 12 I write down countless teachings for the people, but they reject them as strange and foreign. 13 They offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat of the sacrifices.[m] But I, the Lord, am not pleased with them, and now I will remember their sin and punish them for it; I will send them back to Egypt!
14 “The people of Israel have built palaces, but they have forgotten their own Maker. The people of Judah have built fortified cities. But I will send fire that will burn down their palaces and their cities.”
Hosea Announces Punishment for Israel
9 People of Israel, stop celebrating your festivals like pagans. You have turned away from your God and have been unfaithful to him. All over the land you have sold yourselves like prostitutes to the god Baal and have loved the grain you thought he paid you with! 2 But soon you will not have enough grain and olive oil, and there will be no wine. 3 The people of Israel will not remain in the Lord's land, but will have to go back to Egypt and will have to eat forbidden food[n] in Assyria. 4 In those foreign lands they will not be able to make wine offerings to the Lord or bring their sacrifices to him. Their food will defile everyone who eats it, like food eaten at funerals. It will be used only to satisfy their hunger; none of it will be taken as an offering to the Lord's Temple. 5 And when the time comes for the appointed festivals in honor of the Lord, what will they do then? 6 When the disaster comes and the people are scattered, the Egyptians will gather them up—gather them for burial there at Memphis! Their treasures of silver and the places where their homes once stood will be overgrown with weeds and thorn bushes.
7 (B)The time for punishment has come, the time when people will get what they deserve. When that happens, Israel will know it! “This prophet,” you say, “is a fool. This inspired man is insane.” You people hate me so much because your sin is so great. 8 God has sent me as a prophet to warn his people Israel. Yet wherever I go, you try to trap me like a bird. Even in God's Temple the people are the prophet's enemies. 9 (C)They are hopelessly evil in what they do, just as they were at Gibeah.[o] God will remember their sin and punish them for it.
Israel's Sin and Its Consequences
10 (D)The Lord says, “When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved. 11 Israel's greatness will fly away like a bird, and there will be no more children born to them, no more women pregnant, no more children conceived. 12 But even if they did bring up children, I would take them away and not leave one alive. When I abandon these people, terrible things will happen to them.”
13 Lord, I can see their children being hunted down[p] and killed. 14 What shall I ask you to do to these people? Make their women barren! Make them unable to nurse their babies!
The Lord's Judgment on Israel
15 The Lord says, “All their evildoing began in Gilgal. It was there that I began to hate them. And because of the evil they have done, I will drive them out of my land. I will not love them any more; all their leaders have rebelled against me. 16 The people of Israel are like a plant whose roots have dried up and which bears no fruit. They will have no children, but even if they did, I would kill the children so dear to them.”
The Prophet Speaks about Israel
17 The God I serve will reject his people, because they have not listened to him. They will become wanderers among the nations.
10 The people of Israel were like a grapevine that was full of grapes. The more prosperous they were, the more altars they built. The more productive their land was, the more beautiful they made the sacred stone pillars they worship. 2 The people whose hearts are deceitful must now suffer for their sins. God will break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars.
3 These people will soon be saying, “We have no king because we did not fear the Lord. But what could a king do for us anyway?” 4 They utter empty words and make false promises and useless treaties. Justice has become injustice, growing like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
5 The people who live in the city of Samaria will be afraid and will mourn the loss of the gold bull[q] at Bethaven.[r] They and the priests who serve the idol will weep over it. They will wail when it is stripped of its golden splendor. 6 The idol will be carried off to Assyria as tribute to the great emperor. The people of Israel will be disgraced and put to shame because of the advice they followed. 7 Their king will be carried off, like a chip of wood on water. 8 (E)The hilltop shrines of Aven,[s] where the people of Israel worship idols, will be destroyed. Thorns and weeds will grow up over their altars. The people will call out to the mountains, “Hide us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”
The Lord Pronounces Judgment on Israel
9 (F)The Lord says, “The people of Israel have not stopped sinning against me since the time of their sin at Gibeah.[t] So at Gibeah war will catch up with them. 10 I will attack[u] this sinful people and punish them. Nations will join together against them, and they will be punished for their many sins.
11 “Israel was once like a well-trained young cow, ready and willing to thresh grain. But I decided to put a yoke[v] on her beautiful neck and to harness her for harder work. I made Judah pull the plow and Israel pull the harrow. 12 (G)I said, ‘Plow new ground for yourselves, plant righteousness, and reap the blessings that your devotion to me will produce. It is time for you to turn to me, your Lord, and I will come and pour out blessings upon you.’ 13 But instead you planted evil and reaped its harvest. You have eaten the fruit produced by your lies.
“Because you trusted in your chariots[w] and in the large number of your soldiers, 14 war will come to your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed. It will be like the day when King Shalman destroyed the city of Betharbel in battle, and mothers and their children were crushed to death. 15 That is what will happen to you, people of Bethel, because of the terrible evil that you have done. As soon as the battle begins, the king of Israel will die.”
God's Love for His Rebellious People
11 (H)The Lord says,
“When Israel was a child, I loved him
and called him out of Egypt as my son.[x]
2 But the more I[y] called to him,
the more he turned away from me.[z]
My people sacrificed to Baal;
they burned incense to idols.
3 Yet I was the one who taught Israel to walk.
I took my people up in my arms,[aa]
but they did not acknowledge that I took care of them.
4 I drew them to me with affection and love.
I picked them up and held them to my cheek;
I bent down to them and fed them.[ab]
5 “They refuse to return to me, and so they must return to Egypt, and Assyria will rule them. 6 War will sweep through their cities and break down the city gates. It will destroy my people because they do what they themselves think best. 7 They insist on turning away from me. They will cry out because of the yoke that is on them, but no one will lift it from them.[ac]
8 (I)“How can I give you up, Israel?
How can I abandon you?
Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah,
or treat you as I did Zeboiim?
My heart will not let me do it!
My love for you is too strong.
9 I will not punish you in my anger;
I will not destroy Israel again.
For I am God and not a mere human being.
I, the Holy One, am with you.
I will not come to you in anger.
10 “My people will follow me when I roar like a lion at their enemies. They will hurry to me from the west. 11 They will come from Egypt, as swiftly as birds, and from Assyria, like doves. I will bring them to their homes again. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Israel and Judah Are Condemned
12 The Lord says, “The people of Israel have surrounded me with lies and deceit, and the people of Judah are still rebelling against me, the faithful and holy God.
Footnotes
- Hosea 4:4 Probable text my complaint is against you priests; Hebrew your people are like those with a complaint against the priests.
- Hosea 4:14 These women were found in Canaanite temples, where fertility gods were worshiped. It was believed that intercourse with these prostitutes assured fertile fields and herds.
- Hosea 4:15 This name means “house of evil” or “house of idolatry” and in this passage refers to the city of Bethel, a name which means “house of God.” See also 10.8.
- Hosea 4:19 sacrifices; some ancient translations altars.
- Hosea 4:19 Verses 17-19 in Hebrew are unclear.
- Hosea 5:2 Probable text a deep pit at Acacia City; Hebrew unclear.
- Hosea 5:8 This name means “house of evil” or “house of idolatry” and in this passage refers to the city of Bethel, a name which means “house of God.” See also 10.8.
- Hosea 5:11 Probable text those who had none to give; Hebrew command.
- Hosea 6:7 Probable text But … at Adam; Hebrew But like Adam.
- Hosea 7:6 One ancient translation burned; Hebrew drew near.
- Hosea 7:12 Probable text the evil they have done; Hebrew the report to their congregation.
- Hosea 7:16 Probable text a god that is powerless; Hebrew unclear.
- Hosea 8:13 They offer … the sacrifices; Hebrew unclear.
- Hosea 9:3 The Law of Moses prohibited the eating of certain foods as being ritually unclean (see Lv 11).
- Hosea 9:9 At this city some Israelites of the tribe of Benjamin raped a Levite's concubine; this caused a civil war that almost wiped out the Benjaminites (see Jg 19–21).
- Hosea 9:13 Probable text being hunted down; Hebrew unclear.
- Hosea 10:5 Some ancient translations bull; Hebrew cows.
- Hosea 10:5 This name means “house of evil” or “house of idolatry” and in this passage refers to the city of Bethel, a name which means “house of God.” In verse 8, Bethaven is called Aven. See also 4.15 and 5.8.
- Hosea 10:8 This name means “house of evil” or “house of idolatry” and in this passage refers to the city of Bethel, a name which means “house of God.” In verse 8, Bethaven is called Aven. See also 4.15 and 5.8.
- Hosea 10:9 See 9.9.
- Hosea 10:10 One ancient translation I will attack; Hebrew In my desire.
- Hosea 10:11 Probable text put a yoke; Hebrew spare.
- Hosea 10:13 One ancient translation chariots; Hebrew way.
- Hosea 11:1 him, and called him … son; or him; from the time he left Egypt I have called him my son.
- Hosea 11:2 One ancient translation I; Hebrew they.
- Hosea 11:2 One ancient translation me; Hebrew them.
- Hosea 11:3 One ancient translation I … my arms; Hebrew He … his arms.
- Hosea 11:4 Verse 4 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Hosea 11:7 Verse 7 in Hebrew is unclear.
Hosea 4-11
New International Version
Hosea 4-11
New International Version
The Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge(A) to bring
against you who live in the land:(B)
“There is no faithfulness,(C) no love,
no acknowledgment(D) of God in the land.(E)
2 There is only cursing,[a] lying(F) and murder,(G)
stealing(H) and adultery;(I)
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.(J)
3 Because 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)
5 You stumble(O) day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother(P)—
6 my 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 law(R) 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[b](S) for something disgraceful.(T)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.(U)
9 And 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 prostitution(Y) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(Z) the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(AA)
old wine(AB) and new wine
take away their understanding.(AC)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,(AD)
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.(AE)
A spirit of prostitution(AF) leads them astray;(AG)
they are unfaithful(AH) to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,(AI) poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.(AJ)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution(AK)
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.(AL)
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(AM)
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(AN)—
a people without understanding(AO) will come to ruin!(AP)
15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;(AQ)
do not go up to Beth Aven.[c](AR)
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’(AS)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,(AT)
like a stubborn heifer.(AU)
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs(AV) 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(AW) will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.(AX)
Judgment Against Israel
5 “Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
This judgment(AY) is against you:
You have been a snare(AZ) at Mizpah,
a net(BA) spread out on Tabor.
2 The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.(BB)
I will discipline all of them.(BC)
3 I know all about Ephraim;
Israel is not hidden(BD) from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
Israel is corrupt.(BE)
4 “Their deeds do not permit them
to return(BF) to their God.
A spirit of prostitution(BG) is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge(BH) the Lord.
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies(BI) against them;
the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble(BJ) in their sin;
Judah also stumbles with them.(BK)
6 When they go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord,(BL)
they will not find him;
he has withdrawn(BM) himself from them.
7 They are unfaithful(BN) to the Lord;
they give birth to illegitimate(BO) children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,(BP)
he will devour[d](BQ) their fields.
8 “Sound the trumpet(BR) in Gibeah,(BS)
the horn in Ramah.(BT)
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven[e];(BU)
lead on, Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will be laid waste(BV)
on the day of reckoning.(BW)
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.(BX)
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.(BY)
I will pour out my wrath(BZ) on them
like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
intent on pursuing idols.[f](CA)
12 I am like a moth(CB) to Ephraim,
like rot(CC) to the people of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim(CD) saw his sickness,
and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,(CE)
and sent to the great king for help.(CF)
But he is not able to cure(CG) you,
not able to heal your sores.(CH)
14 For I will be like a lion(CI) to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces(CJ) and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.(CK)
15 Then I will return to my lair(CL)
until they have borne their guilt(CM)
and seek my face(CN)—
in their misery(CO)
they will earnestly seek me.(CP)”
Israel Unrepentant
6 “Come, let us return(CQ) to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces(CR)
but he will heal us;(CS)
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.(CT)
2 After two days he will revive us;(CU)
on the third day(CV) he will restore(CW) 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,(CX)
like the spring rains that water the earth.(CY)”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?(CZ)
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.(DA)
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth(DB)—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[g](DC)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(DD)
and acknowledgment(DE) of God rather than burnt offerings.(DF)
7 As at Adam,[h] they have broken the covenant;(DG)
they were unfaithful(DH) to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,(DI)
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,(DJ)
so do bands of priests;
they murder(DK) on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.(DL)
10 I have seen a horrible(DM) thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.(DN)
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest(DO) is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes(DP) of my people,
7 1 whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(DQ)
They practice deceit,(DR)
thieves break into houses,(DS)
bandits rob in the streets;(DT)
2 but they do not realize
that I remember(DU) all their evil deeds.(DV)
Their sins engulf them;(DW)
they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.(DX)
4 They are all adulterers,(DY)
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,(DZ)
and he joins hands with the mockers.(EA)
6 Their hearts are like an oven;(EB)
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,(EC)
and none of them calls(ED) on me.
8 “Ephraim mixes(EE) with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,(EF)
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(EG)
but despite all this
he does not return(EH) to the Lord his God
or search(EI) for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(EJ)
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(EK)
now turning to Assyria.(EL)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(EM) 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(EN) to them,
because they have strayed(EO) from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me(EP) falsely.(EQ)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(ER)
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[i] appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,(ES)
but they turn away from me.(ET)
15 I trained(EU) them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil(EV) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(EW)
they are like a faulty bow.(EX)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent(EY) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(EZ)
in the land of Egypt.(FA)
Israel to Reap the Whirlwind
8 “Put the trumpet(FB) to your lips!
An eagle(FC) is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant(FD)
and rebelled against my law.(FE)
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.(FF)
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.(FG)
With their silver and gold
they make idols(FH) for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!(FI)
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?(FJ)
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.(FK)
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf(FL) of Samaria.(FM)
7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.(FN)
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.(FO)
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.(FP)
8 Israel is swallowed up;(FQ)
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.(FR)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria(FS)
like a wild donkey(FT) wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.(FU)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.(FV)
They will begin to waste away(FW)
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.(FX)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.(FY)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat(FZ) the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.(GA)
Now he will remember(GB) their wickedness
and punish their sins:(GC)
They will return to Egypt.(GD)
14 Israel has forgotten(GE) their Maker(GF)
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”(GG)
Punishment for Israel
9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilant(GH) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful(GI) to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitute(GJ)
at every threshing floor.
2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine(GK) will fail them.
3 They will not remain(GL) in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt(GM)
and eat unclean food in Assyria.(GN)
4 They will not pour out wine offerings(GO) to the Lord,
nor will their sacrifices please(GP) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;(GQ)
all who eat them will be unclean.(GR)
This food will be for themselves;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.(GS)
5 What will you do(GT) on the day of your appointed festivals,(GU)
on the feast days of the Lord?
6 Even if they escape from destruction,
Egypt will gather them,(GV)
and Memphis(GW) will bury them.(GX)
Their treasures of silver(GY) will be taken over by briers,
and thorns(GZ) will overrun their tents.
7 The days of punishment(HA) are coming,
the days of reckoning(HB) are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sins(HC) are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,(HD)
the inspired person a maniac.(HE)
8 The prophet, along with my God,
is the watchman over Ephraim,[j]
yet snares(HF) await him on all his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.(HG)
9 They have sunk deep into corruption,(HH)
as in the days of Gibeah.(HI)
God will remember(HJ) their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.(HK)
10 “When I found Israel,
it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the early fruit(HL) on the fig(HM) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,(HN)
they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol(HO)
and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory(HP) will fly away like a bird(HQ)—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(HR)
12 Even if they rear children,
I will bereave(HS) them of every one.
Woe(HT) to them
when I turn away from them!(HU)
13 I have seen Ephraim,(HV) like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place.(HW)
But Ephraim will bring out
their children to the slayer.”(HX)
14 Give them, Lord—
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that are dry.(HY)
15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,(HZ)
I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,(IA)
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;(IB)
all their leaders are rebellious.(IC)
16 Ephraim(ID) is blighted,
their root is withered,
they yield no fruit.(IE)
Even if they bear children,
I will slay(IF) their cherished offspring.”
17 My God will reject(IG) them
because they have not obeyed(IH) him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.(II)
10 Israel was a spreading vine;(IJ)
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;(IK)
as his land prospered,(IL)
he adorned his sacred stones.(IM)
2 Their heart is deceitful,(IN)
and now they must bear their guilt.(IO)
The Lord will demolish their altars(IP)
and destroy their sacred stones.(IQ)
3 Then 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?”
4 They make many promises,
take false oaths(IR)
and make agreements;(IS)
therefore lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weeds(IT) in a plowed field.
5 The people who live in Samaria fear
for the calf-idol(IU) of Beth Aven.[k](IV)
Its people will mourn over it,
and so will its idolatrous priests,(IW)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
because it is taken from them into exile.(IX)
6 It will be carried to Assyria(IY)
as tribute(IZ) for the great king.(JA)
Ephraim will be disgraced;(JB)
Israel will be ashamed(JC) of its foreign alliances.
7 Samaria’s king will be destroyed,(JD)
swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8 The high places(JE) of wickedness[l](JF) will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns(JG) and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.(JH)
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”(JI)
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”(JJ)
9 “Since the days of Gibeah,(JK) you have sinned,(JL) Israel,
and there you have remained.[m]
Will not war again overtake
the evildoers in Gibeah?
10 When I please, I will punish(JM) them;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bonds for their double sin.
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke(JN)
on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
Judah must plow,
and Jacob must break up the ground.
12 Sow(JO) righteousness(JP) for yourselves,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;(JQ)
for it is time to seek(JR) the Lord,
until he comes
and showers his righteousness(JS) on you.
13 But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,(JT)
you have eaten the fruit of deception.(JU)
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,(JV)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastated(JW)—
as Shalman(JX) devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.(JY)
15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.(JZ)
God’s Love for Israel
11 “When Israel was a child,(KA) I loved(KB) him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.(KC)
2 But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.[n](KD)
They sacrificed to the Baals(KE)
and they burned incense to images.(KF)
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;(KG)
but they did not realize
it was I who healed(KH) them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.(KI)
To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed(KJ) them.(KK)
5 “Will they not return to Egypt(KL)
and will not Assyria(KM) rule over them
because they refuse to repent?(KN)
6 A sword(KO) will flash in their cities;
it will devour(KP) their false prophets
and put an end to their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn(KQ) from me.(KR)
Even though they call me God Most High,
I will by no means exalt them.
8 “How can I give you up,(KS) Ephraim?(KT)
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?(KU)
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion(KV) is aroused.(KW)
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,(KX)
nor will I devastate(KY) Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man(KZ)—
the Holy One(LA) among you.
I will not come against their cities.
10 They will follow the Lord;
he will roar(LB) like a lion.(LC)
When he roars,
his children will come trembling(LD) from the west.(LE)
11 They will come from Egypt,
trembling like sparrows,
from Assyria,(LF) fluttering like doves.(LG)
I will settle them in their homes,”(LH)
declares the Lord.
Israel’s Sin
Footnotes
- 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
- Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God
- Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 10:8 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5.
- Hosea 10:9 Or there a stand was taken
- Hosea 11:2 Septuagint; Hebrew them
- Hosea 11:12 In Hebrew texts this verse (11:12) is numbered 12:1.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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