HOSEA
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 -
6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 -
12 - 13 - 14
TOC
Maps
The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri, in
the days of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, and in the days
of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel. 2 When the LORD first spoke through
Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and
have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the
LORD." 3 So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and
bore him a son. 4 And the LORD said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for in a little
while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put
an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day I will break the bow
of Israel in the valley of Jezreel." 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter.
Then the LORD said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity
on the house of Israel or forgive them. 7 But I will have pity on the house of
Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God; I will not save them by bow,
or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen." 8 When she had weaned
Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then the LORD said, "Name him
Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God." 10 Yet the number of
the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither
measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not
my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God." 11 The
people of Judah and the people of Israel shall be gathered together, and they
shall appoint for themselves one head; and they shall take possession of the
land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Return to Top
Say to your brother, Ammi, and to your sister, Ruhamah. 2 Plead
with your mother, plead-- for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband--
that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her
breasts, 3 or I will strip her naked and expose her as in the day she was born,
and make her like a wilderness, and turn her into a parched land, and kill her
with thirst. 4 Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are
children of whoredom. 5 For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived
them has acted shamefully. For she said, "I will go after my lovers; they give
me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink." 6 Therefore
I will hedge up her way with thorns; and 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. Then she shall say, "I
will go and return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than
now." 8 She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the
oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold that they used for Baal. 9
Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; and
I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. 10 Now
I will uncover her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her
out of my hand. 11 I will put an end to all her mirth, her festivals, her new
moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed festivals. 12 I will lay waste her
vines and her fig trees, of which she said, "These are my pay, which my lovers
have given me." I will make them a forest, and the wild animals shall devour
them. 13 I will punish her for the festival days of the Baals, when she offered
incense to them and decked herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her
lovers, and forgot me, says the LORD. 14 Therefore, I will now allure her, and
bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 From there I will
give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she
shall respond as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of
the land of Egypt. 16 On that day, says the LORD, you will call me, "My
husband," and no longer will you call me, "My Baal." 17 For I will remove the
names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more.
18 I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds
of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow,
the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And
I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in
righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. 20 I will take
you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD. 21 On that day I
will answer, says 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 Jezreel; 23 and I will sow him for myself in the land. And I will
have pity on Lo-ruhamah, and I will say to Lo-ammi, "You are my people"; and he
shall say, "You are my God."
Return to Top
The LORD said to me again, "Go, love a woman who has a lover and is
an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to
other gods and love raisin cakes." 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of
silver and a homer of barley and a measure of wine. 3 And I said to her, "You
must remain as mine for many days; you shall not play the whore, you shall not
have intercourse with a man, nor I with you." 4 For the Israelites shall remain
many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or
teraphim. 5 Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the LORD their God,
and David their king; they shall come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in
the latter days.
Return to Top
Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel; for the LORD has an
indictment against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or
loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. 2 Swearing, lying, and murder, and
stealing and adultery break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed. 3 Therefore the
land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and
the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing. 4 Yet let no one
contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. 5 You
shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night, and I
will destroy your mother. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And
since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; they changed their
glory into shame. 8 They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their
iniquity. 9 And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for
their ways, and repay them for their deeds. 10 They shall eat, but not be
satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply; because they have
forsaken the LORD to devote themselves to 11 whoredom. Wine and new wine take
away the understanding. 12 My people consult a piece of wood, and their divining
rod gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they
have played the whore, forsaking their God. 13 They sacrifice on the tops of the
mountains, and make offerings upon the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your
daughters-in-law commit adultery. 14 I will not punish your daughters when they
play the whore, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery; for the men
themselves go aside with whores, and sacrifice with temple prostitutes; thus a
people without understanding comes to ruin. 15 Though you play the whore, O
Israel, do not let Judah become guilty. Do not enter into Gilgal, or go up to
Beth-aven, and do not swear, "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 Ephraim is joined to idols-- let him alone. 18 When their drinking is ended,
they indulge in sexual orgies; they love lewdness more than their glory. 19 A
wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their
altars.
Return to Top
Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house
of the king! For the judgment pertains to you; for you have been a snare at
Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor, 2 and a pit dug deep in Shittim; but I will
punish all of them. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now,
O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled. 4 Their deeds do not
permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them,
and they do not know the LORD. 5 Israel's pride testifies against him; Ephraim
stumbles in his guilt; Judah also stumbles with them. 6 With their flocks and
herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has
withdrawn from them. 7 They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD; for they have
borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon shall devour them along with their
fields. 8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at
Beth-aven; look behind you, Benjamin! 9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the
day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure. 10 The
princes of Judah have become like those who remove the landmark; on them I will
pour out my wrath like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after vanity. 12 Therefore I am like maggots to
Ephraim, and like rottenness to the house of Judah. 13 When Ephraim saw his
sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the
great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. 14 For I will be
like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself
will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. 15 I will
return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In
their distress they will beg my favor:
Return to Top
"Come, let us return to the LORD; for it is he who has torn, and he
will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he
will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before
him. 3 Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his appearing is as sure
as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that
water the earth." 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with
you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away
early. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the
words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire
steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt
offerings. 7 But at Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt
faithlessly with me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. 9 As
robbers lie in wait for someone, so the priests are banded together; they murder
on the road to Shechem, they commit a monstrous crime. 10 In the house of Israel
I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim's whoredom is there, Israel is defiled. 11
For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. When I would restore the fortunes
of my people,
Return to Top
when I would heal Israel, the corruption of Ephraim is revealed,
and the wicked deeds of Samaria; for they deal falsely, the thief breaks in, and
the bandits raid outside. 2 But they do not consider that I remember all their
wickedness. Now their deeds surround them, they are before my face. 3 By their
wickedness they make the king glad, and the officials by their treachery. 4 They
are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven, whose baker does not need to
stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. 5 On the day
of our king the officials became sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out
his hand with mockers. 6 For they are kindled like an oven, their heart burns
within them; 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 their kings have fallen; none of them calls upon me. 8 Ephraim mixes himself
with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned. 9 Foreigners devour his
strength, but he does not know it; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, but he
does not know it. 10 Israel's pride testifies against him; yet they do not
return to the LORD their God, or seek him, for all this. 11 Ephraim has become
like a dove, silly and without sense; they call upon Egypt, they go to Assyria.
12 As they go, I will cast my net over them; I will bring them down like birds
of the air; I will discipline them according to the report made to their
assembly. 13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them,
for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies
against me. 14 They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their
beds; they gash themselves for grain and wine; they rebel against me. 15 It was
I who trained and strengthened their arms, yet they plot evil against me. 16
They turn to that which does not profit; they have become like a defective bow;
their officials shall fall by the sword because of the rage of their tongue. So
much for their babbling in the land of Egypt.
Return to Top
Set the trumpet to your lips! One like a vulture is over the house
of the LORD, because they have broken my covenant, and transgressed my law. 2
Israel cries to me, "My God, we--Israel--know you!" 3 Israel has spurned the
good; the enemy shall pursue him. 4 They made kings, but not through me; they
set up princes, but without my knowledge. With their silver and gold they made
idols for their own destruction. 5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria. My anger
burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6 For it is
from Israel, an artisan made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be
broken to pieces. 7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads, it shall yield no meal; if it were to yield,
foreigners would devour it. 8 Israel is swallowed up; now they are among the
nations as a useless vessel. 9 For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass
wandering alone; Ephraim has bargained for lovers. 10 Though they bargain with
the nations, I will now gather them up. They shall soon writhe under the burden
of kings and princes. 11 When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sin, they
became to him altars for sinning. 12 Though I write for him the multitude of my
instructions, they are regarded as a strange thing. 13 Though they offer choice
sacrifices, though they eat flesh, the LORD does not accept them. Now he will
remember their iniquity, and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt. 14
Israel has forgotten his Maker, and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied
fortified cities; but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour
his strongholds.
Return to Top
Do not rejoice, O Israel! Do not exult as other nations do; for you
have played the whore, departing from your God. You have loved a prostitute's
pay on all threshing floors. 2 Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and the new wine shall fail them. 3 They shall not remain in the land of the
LORD; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and in Assyria they shall eat unclean
food. 4 They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the LORD, and their
sacrifices shall not please him. Such sacrifices shall be like mourners' bread;
all who eat of it shall be defiled; for their bread shall be for their hunger
only; it shall not come to the house of the LORD. 5 What will you do on the day
of appointed festival, and on the day of the festival of the LORD? 6 For even if
they escape destruction, Egypt shall gather them, Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver; thorns shall be in their
tents. 7 The days of punishment have come, the days of recompense have come;
Israel cries, "The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is mad!" Because of
your great iniquity, your hostility is great. 8 The prophet is a sentinel for my
God over Ephraim, yet a fowler's snare is on all his ways, and hostility in the
house of his God. 9 They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of
Gibeah; he will remember their iniquity, he will punish their sins. 10 Like
grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree,
in its first season, I saw your ancestors. But they came to Baal-peor, and
consecrated themselves to a thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing
they loved. 11 Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird-- no birth, no
pregnancy, no conception! 12 Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them
until no one is left. Woe to them indeed when I depart from them! 13 Once I saw
Ephraim as a young palm planted in a lovely meadow, but now Ephraim must lead
out his children for slaughter. 14 Give them, O LORD-- what will you give? Give
them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. 15 Every evil of theirs began at
Gilgal; there I came to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I
will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their officials
are rebels. 16 Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall bear no
fruit. Even though they give birth, I will kill the cherished offspring of their
womb. 17 Because they have not listened to him, my God will reject them; they
shall become wanderers among the nations.
Return to Top
Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his
fruit increased the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved
his pillars. 2 Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD
will break down their altars, and destroy their pillars. 3 For now they will
say: "We have no king, for we do not fear the LORD, and a king--what could he do
for us?" 4 They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants; so
litigation springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. 5 The
inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the calf of Beth-aven. Its people shall mourn
for it, and its idolatrous priests shall wail over it, over its glory that has
departed from it. 6 The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria as tribute to
the great king. Ephraim shall be put to shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of
his idol. 7 Samaria's king shall perish like a chip on the face of the waters. 8
The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and
thistle shall grow up on their altars. They shall say to the mountains, Cover
us, and to the hills, Fall on us. 9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O
Israel; there they have continued. Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah? 10 I
will come against the wayward people to punish them; and nations shall be
gathered against them when they are punished for their double iniquity. 11
Ephraim was a trained heifer that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck;
but I will make Ephraim break the ground; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for
himself. 12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your
fallow ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain
righteousness upon you. 13 You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped
injustice, you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your
power and in the multitude of your warriors, 14 therefore the tumult of war
shall rise against your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, as
Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle when mothers were dashed in
pieces with their children. 15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel, because
of your great wickedness. At dawn the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off.
Return to Top
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my
son. 2 The more I called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing
to the Baals, and offering incense to idols. 3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim
to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. 4
I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like
those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them. 5 They
shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they
have refused to return to me. 6 The sword rages in their cities, it consumes
their oracle-priests, and devours because of their schemes. 7 My people are bent
on turning away from me. To the Most High they call, but he does not raise them
up at all. 8 How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart
recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. 9 I will not execute my
fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the
Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. 10 They shall go after the
LORD, who roars like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling
from the west. 11 They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like
doves from the land of Assyria; and I will return them to their homes, says the
LORD. 12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with
deceit; but Judah still walks with God, and is faithful to the Holy One.
Return to Top
Ephraim herds the wind, and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a treaty with Assyria, and oil
is carried to Egypt. 2 The LORD has an indictment against Judah, and will punish
Jacob according to his ways, and repay him according to his deeds. 3 In the womb
he tried to supplant his brother, and in his manhood he strove with God. 4 He
strove with the angel and prevailed, he wept and sought his favor; he met him at
Bethel, and there he spoke with him. 5 The LORD the God of hosts, the LORD is
his name! 6 But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God. 7 A trader, in whose hands are false
balances, he loves to oppress. 8 Ephraim has said, "Ah, I am rich, I have gained
wealth for myself; in all of my gain no offense has been found in me that would
be sin." 9 I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; I will make you live
in tents again, as in the days of the appointed festival. 10 I spoke to the
prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets I will bring
destruction. 11 In Gilead there is iniquity, they shall surely come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, so their altars shall be like stone heaps on the
furrows of the field. 12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram, there Israel served for
a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep. 13 By a prophet the LORD brought Israel
up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded. 14 Ephraim has given bitter
offense, so his Lord will bring his crimes down on him and pay him back for his
insults.
Return to Top
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel;
but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. 2 And now they keep on sinning and
make a cast image for themselves, idols of silver made according to their
understanding, all of them the work of artisans. "Sacrifice to these," they say.
People are kissing calves! 3 Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or
like the dew that goes away early, like chaff that swirls from the threshing
floor or like smoke from a window. 4 Yet I have been the LORD your God ever
since the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no
savior. 5 It was I who fed you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. 6 When
I fed them, they were satisfied; they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
therefore they forgot me. 7 So I will become like a lion to them, like a leopard
I will lurk beside the way. 8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her
cubs, and will tear open the covering of their heart; there I will devour them
like a lion, as a wild animal would mangle them. 9 I will destroy you, O Israel;
who can help you? 10 Where now is your king, that he may save you? Where in all
your cities are your rulers, of whom you said, "Give me a king and rulers"? 11 I
gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath. 12 Ephraim's
iniquity is bound up; his sin is kept in store. 13 The pangs of childbirth come
for him, but he is an unwise son; for at the proper time he does not present
himself at the mouth of the womb. 14 Shall I ransom them from the power of
Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol,
where is your destruction? Compassion is hidden from my eyes. 15 Although he may
flourish among rushes, the east wind shall come, a blast from the LORD, rising
from the wilderness; and his fountain shall dry up, his spring shall be parched.
It shall strip his treasury of every precious thing. 16 Samaria shall bear her
guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword,
their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped
open.
Return to Top
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled
because of your iniquity. 2 Take words with you and return to the LORD; say to
him, "Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the
fruit of our lips. 3 Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; we
will say no more, 'Our God,' to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds
mercy." 4 I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely, for my anger
has turned from them. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like
the lily, he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon. 6 His shoots shall
spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that
of Lebanon. 7 They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a
garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine
of Lebanon. 8 O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and
look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me.
9 Those who are wise understand these things; those who are discerning know
them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but
transgressors stumble in them.
BACK TO TOP
BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS