Beginning
1 The Devar Hashem that came unto Hoshea, ben Be’eri, in the yamim of Uziyah, Yotam, Achaz, and Yechizkiyah, melachim of Yehudah, and in the yamim of Yarov‘am ben Yoash, Melech Yisroel.
2 The beginning of the Devar Hashem by Hoshea: And Hashem said to Hoshea, Go, take unto thee an eshet zenunim (wife of whoredoms) and yeladim of zenunim; for ha’aretz hath committed great whoredom, by departing from Hashem.
3 So he went and took Gomer bat Divlayim; which conceived, and bore him ben.
4 And Hashem said unto him, Call shmo Yizre’el (G-d will sow); for yet a little while, and I will visit vengeance upon Bais Yehu for the demei Yizre’el (massacre at Yizre’el), and will cause to cease the Mamlechut Bais Yisroel [See 2Kg chp 9].
5 And it shall come to pass on Yom Hahu, that I will break the keshet Yisroel (bow of Israel), in the Emek Yizre’el (Jezreel Valley).
6 And she conceived again, and bore a bat. And G-d said unto him, Call her shem Loruchamah (not pitied); for I will no more have pity upon Bais Yisroel; since I have been utterly betrayed by them [1K 2:10].
7 But I will have mercy upon the Bais Yehudah, and will save them by Hashem Eloheihem, and will not save them by keshet, nor by cherev, nor by milchamah, by susim, nor by parashim.
8 Now when she had weaned Lo-ruchamah, she conceived, and bore ben.
9 Then said G-d, Call shmo Lo-ami; for ye are lo ami (not My people), and to you (pl) not eh’h’yeh (I am, which is ALEFH HEH YOD HEH 1 common sg form of YOD HEH VAV HEH—HASHEM, i.e., to you I am not Hashem).
10 (2:1) Yet the number of the Bnei Yisroel shall be as the sand of the yam (sea), which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are lo ami (not My people), there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the Bnei El Chai.
11 (2:2) Then shall the Bnei Yehudah and the Bnei Yisroel be gathered together, and appoint for them Rosh Echad [Moshiach; see Isa chp 11; Hoshea 3:5], and they shall come up out of ha’aretz; for gadol shall be the Yom Yizre’el (Day of Jezreel [G-d will sow]).
2 1 (2:3) Say ye unto your achim, Ami (My people); and to your achayot, Ruchamah (Pitied).
2 (2:4) Plead with immechem (your mother), plead; for she is not my isha (wife), neither am I her ish (husband); let her therefore put away her zenunim (whoredoms) out of her sight, and her na’afufim (adulteries) from between her breasts;
3 (2:5) Lest I strip her naked, and set her as bare as the day she was born, and make her as a midbar, and turn her like an eretz tziyyah (parched land), and kill her with tzamah (thirst).
4 (2:6) And I will not have mercy upon her banim; for they are the bnei zenunim.
5 (2:7) For their em hath played the zonah (prostitute); she that conceived them hath done shamefully; for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my lechem and my mayim, my wool and my flax, mine shemen (oil) and my shikkui (drink).
6 (2:8) Therefore, hinei, I will hedge up thy path with thorns, and wall in her wall, that she shall not find her netivah (way).
7 (2:9) And she shall chase after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them; then shall she say, I will go and return to my ish harishon (first husband); for then was it better with me than now.
8 (2:10) For she did not have da’as that I gave her dagan (grain), and tirosh (new wine), and yitzhar (oil), and multiplied her kesef and zahav, which they prepared for Ba’al.
9 (2:11) Therefore will I return, and take away My dagan in the season thereof, and My tirosh in the season thereof, and will take back My wool and My flax given to cover her nakedness.
10 (2:12) And now will I expose her navlut (lewdness) in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of Mine hand.
11 (2:13) I will also cause all her masos (exultation, joy) to cease, her Chag (feast), her Chodesh (New Moons), and her Shabbatot, and all her Mo’adim (appointed feasts).
12 (2:14) And I will destroy her gefanim (vines) and her te’enim (fig trees), whereof she hath said, These are my etnan (harlot’s wages) that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the wild beasts of the sadeh shall devour them.
13 (2:15) And I will visit upon her the yamim of Ba’alim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her ring and her jewelry, and she went after her lovers, and forgot Me, saith Hashem.
14 (2:16) Therefore, hinei, I will allure her, and bring her into the midbar, and speak to her lev.
15 (2:17) And there I will give her her kramim (vineyards), and the Emek Achor (Valley of Trouble) I will make a petach tikvah (door of hope); and she shall sing there, as in the yamim of her youth, and as in the yom when she came up out of Eretz Mitzrayim.
16 (2:18) And it shall be in Yom Hahu, saith Hashem, that thou shalt call Me Ishi (my Husband); and shalt call Me no more Ba’ali.
17 (2:19) For I will take away the shemot (names) of Ba’alim out of her mouth, and they shall be remembered by their names no more.
18 (2:20) And in Yom Hahu will I make a brit (covenant) for them with the beasts of the sadeh and with the fowls of Shomayim, and with the creeping things of the adamah; and I will abolish the keshet and the cherev and the milchamah from ha’aretz, and will make them to lie down in safety.
19 (2:21) And I will betroth thee unto Me l’olam; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in tzedek, and in mishpat, and in chesed, and in rachamim.
20 (2:22) I will even betroth thee unto Me in emunah (faithfulness, fidelity): then thou shalt know Hashem.
21 (2:23) And it shall come to pass in Yom Hahu, I will answer, saith Hashem, I will answer HaShomayim (the heavens), and they shall answer Ha’Aretz;
22 (2:24) And Ha’Aretz shall answer with dagan, and tirosh, and yitzhar; and they shall answer Yizre’el (G-d will sow).
23 (2:25) And I will sow her for Myself in ha’aretz; and I will have rachamim upon lo ruchamah; and I will say to them which were lo ami, Thou art ami (My people); and they shall say, Thou art Elohai (my G-d).
3 Then said Hashem unto me, Go again, love an isha (woman, wife) beloved of her re’a (friend, companion), yet a noefet (adulteress), just like the ahavat Hashem toward the Bnei Yisroel, who look to elohim acharim, and love heathen religion raisin cakes [Yirmeyah 44:19].
2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of kesef, and for a chomer and a half of se’orim, [1K 1:18-19 OJBC];
3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide with me yamim rabbim and shalt not play the zonah, and thou shalt not be for another ish; and thus will I also towards thee.
4 For the Bnei Yisroel shall abide yamim rabbim without a melech, and without a sar, and without a zevach, and without a matzevah (stone pillar, monument) and without an ephod (sacred vest used for consulting a deity), and without teraphim (household idols);
5 Afterward shall the Bnei Yisroel return, and seek Hashem Eloheihem, and Dovid their melech [i.e., Moshiach]; and shall fear Hashem and His goodness in the acharit hayamim (last days).
4 Hear the Devar Hashem, ye Bnei Yisroel: for Hashem hath a controversy with the yoshvei ha’aretz, because there is no emes, nor chesed, nor da’as Elohim in ha’aretz. [See 11:7-9; 1K 1:18-19 OJBC]
2 By aloh (false swearing, perjury), and kachash (lying), and ratzo’ach (murder), and ganov (stealing), and na’of (committing adultery) they break away, and damim b’damim they follow (bloodshed follows bloodshed).
3 Therefore shall ha’aretz mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall waste away languishing, with the wild beasts of the sadeh, and with the fowls of Shomayim; yea, the dagim of the yam also shall disappear.
4 Yet let no ish bring a point of contention, nor reprove another; for thy people are as they that strive with the kohen.
5 Therefore shalt thou stumble and fall in the yom, and the navi also shall stumble and fall with thee in the lailah, and I will destroy thy em.
6 Ami are destroyed for lack of da’as (knowledge); because thou hast rejected da’as, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no kohen to Me; seeing thou hast forgotten the torat Eloheicha, I will also forget thy banim.
7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; therefore will I change their kavod into kalon (ignominy, shame).
8 They [i.e., the kohanim] feed on the chattat (sin) of Ami, and they relish their avon (iniquity).
9 And there shall be, like Am (People), like kohen; and I will visit them with punishment for their ways, and repay them for their doings.
10 For they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase; because they have abandoned being shomer to heed Hashem.
11 Zenut (prostitution, whoredom) and yayin and tirosh take away the lev (understanding).
12 Ami (My people) consult a piece of wood, and their staff declareth unto them; for the ruach zenunim hath caused them to err, and they have played the zonah, forsaking Eloheihem.
13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oak and poplar and terebinth, because the shade thereof is tov; therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law shall commit ni’uf (adultery).
14 I will not visit punishment upon your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit ni’uf (adultery); because the men consort with zonot, and they sacrifice with kedeshot (temple prostitutes); thus the Am without binah (understanding) shall come to ruin.
15 Though thou, Yisroel, play the zonah, yet let not Yehudah become guilty; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beit-Aven (House of Iniquity, pejorative name for Bethel), nor swear, Chai Hashem (As the L-rd lives).
16 For Yisroel slideth back (i.e., is stubborn, rebellious, unmanageable) like a backsliding parah (stubborn, rebellious cow); now Hashem will feed them like a lamb in a wide field.
17 Ephrayim [i.e., the Northern Kingdom, Israel] is joined to atzabim (idols); leave him alone.
18 When their drink is sour [i.e., when intoxicated], they have committed whoredom; her mogenim (shields, rulers) deeply love kalon (ignominy, shame).
19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and their zevakhot (sacrifices) shall bring them bushah (shame).
5 Hear ye this, O kohanim; and pay heed, ye Bais Yisroel; and give ye ear, O Bais HaMelech; for hamishpat (the judgment) is against you, because ye have been a pach (snare, bird trap) at Mitzpah, and a reshet (net) spread upon Tavor.
2 And the revolters have deepened their slaughter, and I will be musar (punishment; see regarding Moshiach, Isa.53:5) of them all.
3 I know Ephrayim, and Yisroel is not hid from Me; for now, O Ephrayim, thou committest whoredom, and Yisroel is tameh (unclean, defiled).
4 Their doings do not permit them to turn unto Eloheihem; for the ruach zenunim is in the midst of them, and they have not known Hashem.
5 And the ga’on Yisroel (pride of Yisroel) doth testify to his face; therefore shall Yisroel and Ephrayim stumble and fall in their avon (iniquity); Yehudah also shall fall with them.
6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Hashem; but they shall not find Him; He hath withdrawn Himself from them.
7 They have dealt treacherously against Hashem; for they have begotten banim zarim (strange, illegitimate children); now shall a [Rosh] Chodesh devour them with their fields.
8 Blow ye the shofar in Giveah, and the trumpet in Ramah; cry aloud at Beit-Aven; after thee, O Binyamin!
9 Ephrayim shall be desolate in the Yom Tokheichah (Day of Rebuke): among the Shivtei Yisroel have I made known that which is certain.
10 The sarim (princes) of Yehudah were like them that remove the gevul (boundary stone); therefore I will pour out My wrath upon them like mayim.
11 Ephrayim is oppressed and crushed in mishpat (judgment), because he willingly walked after tzav (human statute [Isa 28:10,13]).
12 Therefore will I be unto Ephrayim like maggots, and to the Bais Yehudah like rottenness.
13 When Ephrayim saw his sickness, and Yehudah saw his sores, then went Ephrayim to the Assyrian, and sent to the great king; yet he was not able to heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
14 For I will be unto Ephrayim like a lion, and as a great lion to the Bais Yehudah; I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there will be no one rescuing.
15 I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their guilt, and seek My face; in their tzar (affliction, distress) they will beg My favor.
6 Come, and let us return unto Hashem; for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath struck, and He will bind us up.
2 After two days He will revive us; in the Yom HaShelishi He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.
3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know Hashem; His going forth is prepared as the shachar (dawn); and He shall come unto us as the geshem (winter rain), as the malkosh (spring rain, i.e., as the latter and former rain, which is the winter and spring rain) unto ha’aretz.
4 O Ephrayim, what shall I do unto thee? O Yehudah, what shall I do with thee? For your chesed (faithfulness, loyalty) is as an anan boker (morning cloud), and as the early dew that disappears.
5 Therefore have I cut them to pieces with the nevi’im; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; thy mishpatim are as the ohr (light, lightning) that goeth forth.
6 For I desired chesed, and not zevach; and the da’as Elohim more than olot (burnt offerings). [Mt 9:13 OJBC]
7 But they are like Adam, they have transgressed the brit (covenant); there have they dealt treacherously against Me.
8 Gil`ad is a city of evildoers, is trodden with dahm.
9 And as gedudim (marauders) lie in wait for a man, so the chever (band) [of] kohanim murder in the way to Shechem; for they commit shameful crimes.
10 I have seen a horrible thing in Bais Yisroel: there is the zenut (whoredom) of Ephrayim; Yisroel is tameh (unclean, defiled).
11 Also, O Yehudah, he hath set a katzir (harvest [of punishment]) for thee, when I turn the Shevut Ami (Captivity of My people, i.e., restore their fortunes).
7 When I would have healed Yisroel, then the avon (iniquity) of Ephrayim was exposed, and the ra’ot (crimes) of Shomron; for they practice sheker; and the ganav intrudes, and the bandit robs bachutz (in the street).
2 And they consider not in their levavot that I remember all their ra’ah; now their own evil doings surround them; they are before My face.
3 They make the Melech glad with their ra’ah, and the sarim (princes) with their lies.
4 They are all no’afim (adulterers), as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth stirring from the kneading of the batzek (dough), until its chametz leavening rises.
5 In the Yom Malkeinu the sarim (princes) have made him sick with the heat of yayin; he has stretched out his hand with the letzim (mockers).
6 For they have made ready their lev like an oven, while they lie in wait; their anger smolders kol halailah; in the boker it burneth like an eish of flame.
7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their shofetim; all their melachim are fallen; there is none among them that calleth unto Me.
8 Ephrayim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephrayim is a flat cake not turned over.
9 Zarim have devoured his ko’ach, and he knoweth it not; yea, gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, yet he hath no da’as.
10 And the ga’on Yisroel testifieth to his face; and they do not return to Hashem Eloheihem, nor seek Him for all this.
11 Ephrayim also is like an easily deceived yonah without sense; they call to Mitzrayim, they turn to Assyria.
12 When they shall go, I will spread My reshet (net) upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of Shomayim; I will chastise them, when I hear them congregating.
13 Woe unto them! For they have strayed from Me. Sod (destruction) unto them because they have committed pesha against Me! Though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken kazav (lies) against Me.
14 And they have not cried unto Me with their levavot, when they wailed upon their beds; they congregate themselves for dagan and tirosh, and they depart from Me.
15 Though I have trained and strengthened their zero’ot (arms), yet do they plot rah against Me.
16 They return, but not to Most High; they are like a faulty keshet; their sarim (princes) shall fall by the cherev for the insolence of their leshon; this shall be their derision in Eretz Mitzrayim.
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