Beginning
Hosea
1 1 The time wherein Hosea prophesied. 2 The idolatry of the people. 10 The calling of the Gentiles. 11 Christ is the head of all people.
1 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days [a]of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, [b]kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel.
2 At the beginning the Lord spake by Hosea, and the Lord said unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife [c]of fornications, and children of fornications: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.
3 So he went, and took [d]Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, which conceived and bare him a son.
4 And the Lord said unto him, Call his name [e]Jezreel: for yet a little, and I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of [f]Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 And at that [g]day will I also break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
6 She conceived yet again, and bare a daughter, and God said unto him, Call her name [h]Lo-Ruhamah: for I will no more have pity upon the house of Israel: but I will utterly [i]take them away.
7 Yet I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will [j]save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
9 Then said God, Call his name [k]Lo-Ammi: for ye are not my people: therefore will I not be yours.
10 Yet the number of the [l]children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor told: and in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
11 Then shall the children of Judah, and the children of Israel be [m]gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great is the [n]day of Jezreel.
2 1 The people is called to repentance. 5 He showeth their idolatry and threateneth them except they repent.
1 Say unto your [o]brethren, Ammi, and to your sisters, Ruhamah,
2 Plead with your [p]mother: plead with her: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: but let her take away her fornications out of her sight, and her adulteries [q]from between her breasts.
3 Lest I strip her naked, and [r]set her as in the day that she was [s]born, and make her as a wilderness, and leave her like a dry land, and slay her for thirst.
4 And I will have no pity upon her children: for they be the [t]children of fornication.
5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them, hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after thy [u]lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool, and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
6 Therefore behold, I will stoop [v]thy way with thorns, and make an hedge, that she shall not find her paths.
7 Though she follow after her lovers, yet shall she not come at them: though she seek them, yet shall she not find them: then shall she say, [w]I will go and return to my first husband: for at that time was I better than now.
8 Now she did not know that I [x]gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they bestowed upon Baal.
9 Therefore will I return, and take away [y]my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax lent, to cover her shame.
10 And now will I discover her [z]lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no man shall deliver her out of mine hand.
11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them as a forest, and the wild beasts shall eat them.
13 And I will visit upon her the days of [aa]Baal, wherein she burnt incense to them: and she decked herself with her [ab]earrings and her jewels, and she followed her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord.
14 Therefore behold, I will [ac]allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak friendly unto her.
15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley [ad]of Achor for the door of hope, and she shall [ae]sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 And at that day, saith the Lord, thou shalt call me [af]Ishi, and shalt call me no more [ag]Baali.
17 For I will take away the names of Baal out of her mouth, and they shall be no more remembered by their [ah]names.
18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the [ai]wild beasts, and with the fowls of the heaven, and with that that creepeth upon the earth: and I will break the bow, and the sword and the battle out of the earth: and will make them to sleep safely.
19 And I will marry thee unto me forever: yea, I will marry thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in mercy, and in compassion.
20 I will even marry thee unto me in [aj]faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord.
21 And in that day I will hear, saith the Lord, I will even hear [ak]the heavens, and they shall hear the earth,
22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel.
23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her, that was not pitied, (A)and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people. And they shall say, Thou art my God.
3 1 The Jews shall be cast off for their idolatry. 5 Afterward they shall return to the Lord.
1 Then said the Lord to me, [al]Go yet, and love a woman (beloved of her husband, and was an harlot) according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel: yet they looked to other gods, and [am]loved the wine bottles.
2 So [an]I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley.
3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide with [ao]me many days: thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt be to none other man, and I will be so unto thee.
4 For the children of Israel shall [ap]remain many days without a king and without a [aq]prince, and without an offering, and without an image, and without an Ephod, and without Teraphim.
5 Afterward shall the children of Israel convert and seek the Lord their God, and [ar]David their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.
4 A complaint against the people and the priests of Israel.
1 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord [as]hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and whoring, they break out, and [at]blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall be cut off, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heaven, and also the fishes of the sea shall be taken away.
4 Yet [au]let none rebuke, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that rebuke the Priest.
5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the [av]day, and the Prophet shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy [aw]mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because [ax]thou hast refused knowledge, I will also refuse thee that thou shalt be no Priest to me: and seeing [ay]thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
7 As they were [az]increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
8 [ba]They eat up the sins of my people, and lift up their minds in their iniquity.
9 And there shall be like people like [bb]priest: for I will visit their ways upon them, and reward them their deeds.
10 For they shall eat, and not have enough, they shall [bc]commit adultery, and shall not increase, because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.
11 [bd]Whoredom, and wine, and new wine take away their heart.
12 My [be]people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff teacheth them: for the [bf]spirit of fornications hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills under the oaks, and the poplar tree, and the elm, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall be [bg]harlots, and your spouses shall be whores.
14 I will not [bh]visit your daughters when they are harlots: nor your spouses, when they are whores: for they themselves are separated with harlots, and sacrifice with whores: therefore the people that doth not understand, shall fall.
15 Though thou Israel, play the harlot, yet [bi]let not Judah sin: come not ye unto [bj]Gilgal, neither go ye up to [bk]Beth Aven, nor swear, The Lord liveth.
16 For Israel is rebellious as an unruly heifer. Now the Lord will feed them as a [bl]lamb in a large place.
17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
18 Their drunkenness stinketh: they have committed whoredom: their rulers love to say with shame, [bm]Bring ye.
19 The wind hath [bn]bound them up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed of their sacrifices.
5 1 Against the Priests and rulers of Israel. 13 The help of man is in vain.
1 O ye Priests, hear this, and hearken ye, O house of Israel, and give ye ear, O house of the King: for judgment is toward you, because you have been a [bo]snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
2 Yet they were profound to decline to [bp]slaughter, though I have been a [bq]rebuker of them all.
3 I know [br]Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou art become an harlot, and Israel is defiled.
4 They will not give their minds to turn unto their God: for the spirit of fornication is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.
5 And the [bs]pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity: Judah also shall fall with them.
6 They shall go with their sheep, and with their bullocks, to seek the Lord: but they shall not find him: for he hath withdrawn himself from them.
7 They have transgressed against the Lord: for they have begotten [bt]strange children: now shall [bu]a month devour them with their portions.
8 Blow ye the trumpet in Gibeah, and the shame in Ramah: cry out at Beth Aven, after thee, O [bv]Benjamin.
9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I caused to [bw]know the truth.
10 The princes of Judah were like them that [bx]remove the bound: therefore will I pour out my wrath upon them like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the [by]commandment.
12 Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as a rottenness.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then went Ephraim unto [bz]Assyria, and sent unto King [ca]Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a lion’s whelp, to the house of Judah: I, even I will spoil and go away: I will take away, and none shall rescue it.
15 I will go, and return to my place, till they acknowledge their fault, and seek me: in their affliction, they will seek me diligently.
6 1 Affliction causeth a man to turn to God. 9 The wickedness of the Priests.
1 Come, and let [cb]us return to the Lord: for he hath spoiled, and he will heal us: he hath wounded us, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days will [cc]he revive us, and in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3 Then shall we have knowledge, and endeavor ourselves to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning, and he shall come unto us as the rain, and as the latter rain unto the earth.
4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, how shall I entreat thee? for [cd]your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the morning dew it goeth away.
5 Therefore have I [ce]cut down by the Prophets: I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and thy [cf]judgments were as the light that goeth forth.
6 For I desired [cg]mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 But they [ch]like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they trespassed against me.
8 [ci]Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.
9 And as the thieves wait for a man, so the company of Priests murder in the way by consent: for they work mischief.
10 I have seen villainy in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim: Israel is defiled.
11 Yea, Judah hath set a [cj]plant for thee, while I would return the captivity of my people.
7 1 Of the vices and wantonness of the people. 12 Of their punishment.
1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they have dealt falsely: and [ck]the thief cometh in, and the robber spoileth without.
2 And they consider not in their hearts, that I remember all their wickedness: now their own inventions have beset them about: they are in my sight.
3 They make the [cl]king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers, and as a very [cm]oven heated by the baker, which ceaseth from raising up, and from kneading the dough until it be leavened.
5 This is the [cn]day of our king: the princes have made him sick with flagons of wine: he stretcheth out his hand to scorners.
6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven while they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night: in the morning it burneth as a flame of fire.
7 They are all hot as an oven, and have [co]devoured their judges: all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.
8 Ephraim hath [cp]mixed himself among the people. Ephraim is as a cake on the hearth not turned.
9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, [cq]gray hairs are here, and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face, and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this.
11 Ephraim also is like a dove deceived without [cr]heart: they call to Egypt: they go to Assyria.
12 But when they shall go, I will spread my net upon them, and draw them down as the fowls of the heaven: I will chastise them as their [cs]Congregation hath heard.
13 Woe unto them: for they have fled away from me: destruction shall be unto them, because they have transgressed against me: though I have [ct]redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
14 And they have not cried unto me with their hearts, [cu]when they howled upon their beds: [cv]they assembled themselves for corn, and wine, and they rebel against me.
15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arm, yet do they imagine mischief against me.
16 They return, but not to the most high: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword, for the rage [cw]of their tongues: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
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