1The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.2The beginning of the word of the LORD through Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry, departing from the LORD."3So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim. She conceived and bore him a son.4And the LORD said to him, "Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little while and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and will bring to an end the kingdom of the house of Israel.5"And it will come to pass in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."a6And she conceived again and bore a daughter. And God said to him, "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel. But I will utterly take them away.7"But I will have mercy on the house of Judah and will save them by the LORD their God. And I will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen."b8Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.9Then the Lord said, "Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people and I will not be your God."c10Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or numbered. And it will come to pass that in the place where it was said to them, "You are not My people," it will be said to them, "You are sons of the living God."d11Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together and appoint themselves one head. And they will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
a. Or Jezreel means "God scatters"
b. Or "I will not save them by military means"
c. Or "Not My people"
d. Or "Sons of the living God"
Chapter 2
1"Say to your brethren, 'Ammi,' and to your sisters, 'Ru-hamah.' Punishment and Restoration2"Contend with your mother. Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband. Therefore, let her put away her harlotry out of her sight and her adultery from between her breasts,3"lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day that she was born and make her as a wilderness, and I set her like a dry land and slay her with thirst.4"And I will not have mercy on her children, for they are children of harlotry.5"For their mother has played harlot. She who conceived them has practiced shameful things. For she said, 'I will go after my lovers who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'a6"Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns and make a wall so that she will not find her paths.7"And she will eagerly pursue after her lovers, but she will not overtake them. And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now.'b8"For she did not know that I gave her grain and wine and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold which they prepared for Baal.9"Therefore, I will return and take back My grain in its time and My wine in its season. And I will take back My wool and My flax, given to cover her nakedness.10"And now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers and no one will deliver her out of My hand.11"I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, her sabbaths and all her solemn feasts.12"And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, 'These are my rewards that my lovers have given me.' And I will make them a forest and the beasts of the field will eat them.13"And I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers and forgot Me," says the LORD.14"Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness. And I speak kindly to her.15"And I will give her her vineyards from there and the nValley of Achor for a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth and pass in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.c16"And it will be at that day," says the LORD, "that you will call Me Ishi. And you will no longer call Me Baali.d17"For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth and they will no longer be remembered by their name.18"And in that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth. And I will make them lie down safely.19"And I will betroth you to Me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, and in lovingkindness and mercy.20"I will even betroth you to Me in faithfulness. And you will know the LORD.21"And it will come to pass in that day that I will hear," says the LORD. "I will hear the heavens and they will hear the earth.22"And the earth will hear the grain and the wine and the oil, and they will hear Jezreel.23"Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth. And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy. And I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people.' And they will say, 'You are My God.'"e
a. Or "Lovers" refers to the false gods Israel worshipped
b. Or "Better with me than now"
c. Or "Door of hope"
d. Or "My husband"
e. Or "My people... My God"
Chapter 3
1Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by her friend, and an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel who look to other gods and love raisin cakes."a2So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley.3Then I said to her, "You will abide with me many days. You will not play harlot and you will not be for another man; so will I also be toward you."4For the children of Israel will abide many days without a king and without a prince, and without a sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without an ephod or a household idol.5Afterward, the children of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. And they will fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.
a. Or "Raisin cakes" were cakes offered to pagan goddesses
Chapter 4
1Hear the word of the LORD you children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land because there is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.2By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint and blood touches blood.3Therefore, the land will mourn and everyone who dwells in it will languish, along with the beasts of the field and with the birds of heaven. Yes, the fish of the sea will also be taken away.4Yet let no man find fault or reprove another, for your people are as those who bring charges against a priest.5Therefore, you will fall in the day, and the prophet also will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy your mother.6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you so that you will be no priest to Me. Seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.7As they were increased, so they sinned against Me. Therefore, I will change their glory into shame.8They feed on the sin of My people and they set their heart on their iniquity.9And it will be: like people, like priest. And I will punish them for their ways and reward them for their deeds.10For they eat and not have enough. They commit harlotry and will not increase, because they have stopped obeying the LORD.11Harlotry and wine and new wine ensnave the heart.12My people ask counsel from their idols, and their staff declares to them, for the spirit of harlotry has caused them to err and they have gone whoring from under their God.13They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because its shadow is good. Therefore, your daughters will commit harlotry and your spouses will commit adultery.14I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your spouses when they commit adultery, for they themselves are separated with whores and they sacrifice with harlots. Therefore, the people who do not understand will fall.15Though you, Israel, play harlot, yet do not let Judah offend. And do not come to Gilgal, nor go up to Bethaven, nor swear, "As the LORD lives."16For Israel uslides back as a backsliding heifer. Can the LORD now feed them as a lamb in a large pasture?17Ephraim is joined to idols. Let him alone.18Their drink is sour. They have committed harlotry continually. Their rulers dearly love shame.19The wind has bound her up in her wings, and they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Chapter 5
1"Hear this, O priests, and hearken, O house of Israel. Give ear, O house of the king, for judgment applies to you because you have been a snare on Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor.2"And the rebels are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all.3"I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry and Israel is defiled.4"They will not direct their deeds to turn to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in the midst of them and they have not known the LORD.5"And the haughtiness of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim will fall in their iniquity. Judah also will fall with them.6"They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD, but they will not find Him. He has withdrawn Himself from them.7"They have dealt treacherously against the LORD, for they have begotten foreign children. Now a new moon will devour them with their heritage.8"Blow the cornet in Gibeah and the trumpet in Ramah. Cry out aloud at Bethaven, 'Behind you, Benjamin!'a9"Ephraim will be desolate in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I have made known that which will surely be.10"The princes of Judah were like those who remove the boundary. Therefore, I will pour out My wrath on them like water.11"Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment because he willingly walked after the commandment of men.12"Therefore, I will be to Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.13"When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to the Assyrian and sent to King Jareb. However, he could not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.14"For I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away. I will take away and no one will rescue him.15"I will go and return to My place until they acknowledge their offense and seek My face. In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."
a. A call to retreat and warning
Chapter 6
1Come, and let us return to the LORD, for He has torn us and He will heal us. He has smitten and He will bind us up.2He will revive us after two days. In the third day He will raise us up and we will live in His sight.3Then we will know if we press on to know the LORD. His going forth is prepared as the morning, and He will come to us has the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth.4"O Ephraim, what will I do to you? O Judah, what will I do to you? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goes away.5"Therefore, I have hewn them by prophets. I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and judgments on you are as the light that goes forth.6"For I desired mercy and knot sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.7"But they like men have transgressed covenant. There they have dealt treacherously with Me.8"Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity and defiled with blood.9"And as gangs of raiders wait for a man, so the company of priests omurder in the way by consent, for they commit plewdness.10"I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There is harlotry of Ephraim. Israel is defiled.11"Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I returned the captives of My people.
Chapter 7
1"When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria. For they commit falsehood, and the thief comes in, and the gang of raiders plunders outside.2"And they do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have surrounded them. They are before My face.3"They make the king glad with their wickedness and the princes with their lies.4"They are all adulterers as an oven heated by the baker, who ceases from stirring after he has kneaded the dough until it is leavened.5"In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine. He stretched out his hand with scoffers.6"For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all night, in the morning it burns as a flaming fire.7"They are all hot as an oven and have devoured their judges. All their kings are fallen. There is no one among them who calls to Me.8"Ephraim has mixed himself among the people. Ephraim is a cake not turned.9"Foreigners have devoured his strength, and he does not know it. Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he he does not know.10"And the haughtiness of Israel testifies 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 silly dove without a heart. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria.12"When they go, I will spread My net over them. I will bring them down as the birds of heaven. I will chastise them according to what their assembly has heard.13"Woe to them, for they have fled from Me. Destruction to them because they have transgressed against Me. Though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me.14"And they have not cried out to Me with their heart when they wailed on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and wine. They rebel against Me.15"Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet they imagine mischief against Me.16"They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a deceitful bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the cursings of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.
Chapter 8
1"Put the trumpet to your mouth. He will come as an eagle against the house of the LORD because they have transgressed My covenant and trespassed against My law.2"Israel will cry out to Me, 'My God, we know You.'a3"Israel has cast off the thing that is good. The enemy will pursue him.4"They have set up kings, but not by Me. They have made princes, and I did not know it. With their silver and their gold they have made idols for themselves so that they might be cut off.5"Your calf, O Samaria, has cast you off. My anger is kindled against them. How long will it be until they attain innocence?b6"For from Israel is even this. The craftsman made it, therefore it is not God. So the calf of Samaria will be broken in pieces.7"For they have sown the wind and they will reap the whirlwind. It has no stalk. The bud will yield no meal. If it should yield, foreigners will swallow it up.8"Israel is swallowed up. Now they will be among the nations as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.9"For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild donkey alone by himself. Ephraim has hired lovers.10"Yes, though they have hired among the nations, now I will gather them and they will begin to waste away under the oppression of the mighty king.11"Because Ephraim has made many altars to sin, they have become for him altars to sin.12"I have written to him the great things of My law, but they were counted as a foreign thing.13"They sacrifice meat for sacrificial offerings of My offerings, and eat it. But the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and visit their sins. They will return to Egypt.14"For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built temples, and Judah has multiplied fortressed cities. But I will send fire on his cities, and it will devour its palaces."c
a. Or "We know You"
b. Or "Attain innocence"
c. Or "Broken in pieces"
Chapter 9
1"Do not rejoice for joy, O Israel, as other people. For you have gone whoring from your God. You have loved harlots' hire on every threshing floor.2The threshing and the winepress will not feed them and the new wine will fail them.3"They will not dwell in the LORD'S land. But Ephraim will return to Egypt and they will eat unclean things in Assyria.4"They will not offer wine offerings to the LORD, nor will their sacrificial offerings be pleasing to Him. Their sacrifices will be to them as bread of mourners. All who eat of it will be polluted. For their bread for their soul will not come into the house of the LORD.5What will you do in the solemn day and in the day of the feast of the LORD?a6For behold, they are gone because of destruction. Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Weeds will take over their treasures of silver. Thorns will be in their tents.7The days of visitation have come. The days of repayment have come. Israel will know it. The prophet is a fool and a spiritual man mad, for the multitude of your iniquity and the great hatred.8The watchman of Ephraim was with my God. The prophet is a snare for a bird in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.9"They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. Therefore, He will remember their iniquity. He will visit their sins.10"I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the earliest fruit in the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baalpeor and separated themselves to that shame, and their abominations were as the thing they loved.11"As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird, from birth and from womb and from conception.12"Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them so that there will not be a man left. Yes, woe also to them when I depart from them!13"Ephraim, as I saw Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring forth his children to the murderer."b14Give them, O LORD—what will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.15"All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. For the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house. I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels.16Ephraim is smitten. Their root is dried up. They will bear no fruit. Yes, though they bring forth, yet I will slay even the beloved fruit of their womb."c17My God will cast them away because they did not hearken to Him. And they will be wanderers among the nations.
a. Refers to the Feast of Tabernacles and other sacred festivals
b. A reference to the practice of child sacrifice to pagan gods
c. Their children and descendants
Chapter 10
1Israel is a spreading vine. He brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit he has increased the altars. According to the goodness of his land, they have made his sacred pillars.2Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will break down their altars. He will plunder their sacred pillars.3"For now they will say, "We have no king because we did not fear the LORD. What then would a king do for us?"4"They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up as a poisonous weed in the furrows of the field.5The inhabitants of Samaria will fear because of the calves of Bethaven. Indeed, its people will mourn for it. And its idolatrous priests will cry out over it, over its glory, because it has departed from it.6It will also be carried to Assyria for a present to King Jareb. Ephraim will receive shame and Israel will be ashamed of its own counsel.7As for Samaria, her king is cut off as foam on the water.8The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars, and they will say to the mountains, "Cover us," and to the hills, "Fall on us."9"O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they stood in the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity who did not overtake them.10"It is in My desire that I should chastise them. And the people will be gathered against them when they are bound for their double iniquity.11"Ephraim is as a heifer that is taught, and loves to tread out the grain. But I will come over her fair neck with a yoke. I will make Ephraim plow. Judah will plow and Jacob will break his clods."12Sow to yourselves in righteousness. Reap in mercy. Break up your fallow ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and rains righteousness on you.13"You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.14Therefore, a tumult will arise among your people and all your fortresses will be plundered as Shalman plundered Beth-arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.15So will Bethel do to you because of your great wickedness. At dawn the king of Israel will be cut off utterly.
Chapter 11
1"When Israel was a child, I loved him and called My son out of Egypt.2"As they called them, so they went from them. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to graven images.3"I taught Ephraim also to walk, taking them by their arms. But they did not know that I healed them.4"I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love. And I was to them as those who take off the yoke from their jaws. And I glaid food before them.5"He will not return to the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian will be his king because they refused to repent.6"And the sword will abide on his cities and will consume his branches and devour them because of their own counsels.7"And My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Even if they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.8"How will I give you up, Ephraim? How will I deliver you, Israel? How will I make you as Admah? How will I set you as Zeboim? My heart is turned within Me. My heart is changed within Me.9"I will not execute the fierceness of My anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst. And I will not come in wrath.10"They will walk after the LORD. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, then the children will tremble from the west.11"They will tremble as a bird out of Egypt and as a dove out of the land of Assyria. And I will place them in their houses," says the LORD.12"Ephraim surrounds Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit. But Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One."
Chapter 12
1Ephraim feeds on wind and follows after the east wind. He daily increases lies and desolation. And they make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.2The LORD has also a controversy with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways, according to his deeds He will repay him.3He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he struggled with God.4Yes, he struggled with an angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication to Him. He found Him in Bethel and there He spoke with us,5even the LORD God of armies. The LORD is His memorial name.6Therefore, turn to your God. Keep mercy and justice and wait on your God continually.7"A merchant, in whose hands are dishonest balances, loves to oppress.8And Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich. I have found for myself wealth. In all my labors they will find no iniquity in me that would be sin."9"But I am the LORD your God since the land of Egypt and you will know no god but Me. For there is no savior besides Me.10"I have also spoken by prophets and I have multiplied visions and used parables through the ministry of the prophets."11"Is there iniquity in Gilead? Surely they are vanity. They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal. Yes, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.12Now Jacob fled into the country of Syria and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.13And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.14Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly. Therefore, the Lord will leave his blood on him and bring back his reproach to him.
Chapter 13
1"When Ephraim spoke, men trembled. He was exalted in Israel. But when he offended in Baal, he died.2And now they sin more and more, and have made for themselves molten images with their silver and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of craftsmen. They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves."3"Therefore, they will be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passes away, as chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshingfloor, and as smoke out of the chimney.4"Yet I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt and you will know no god but Me. For there is no savior besides Me.5"I did know you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.6"According to their pasture, so were they filled. They were filled and their heart was exalted. Therefore, they have forgotten Me.7"Therefore, I will be to them as a lion. As a leopard by the way I will observe them.8"I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will tear open their chests. And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast will tear them.9"O Israel, you have destroyed yourself, but in Me is your help.10"Where now is your king that he may save you in all your cities, and your judges of whom you requested, 'Give me a king and princes'?"11"I gave you a king in My anger and took him away in My wrath.12"The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up. His sin is kept in store for him.13"The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son, for it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb.14"I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be your plagues. O grave, I will be your destruction. Compassion will be hidden from My eyes."
Chapter 14
1"O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have fallen by your iniquity.2Take with you words and turn to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously so that we render the fruit of our lips.3"Asshur will not save us. We will not ride on horses. Neither will we say anymore to the work of our hands, 'You are our gods.' For in You the fatherless find mercy."4"I will heal their backsliding. I will glove them freely. For My anger has turned away from him."5"I will be as the dew to Israel. He will grow as a lily and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.6"His branches will spread and his beauty will be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.7"Those who dwell under his shadow will return. They will revive as grain and grow as a vine. Its scent will be as the wine of Lebanon.8"O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a green cypress tree. From Me comes your fruit."9"Who is wise and will understand these things? Who is prudent and will know them? For the ways of the LORD are right and just will walk in them. But the transgressors will fall in them."