The Book of

HOSEA

Chapter 1

Hosea’s Wife and Children

1 The word of the Lord which came to aHosea the son of Beeri, during the days of bUzziah, cJotham, dAhaz and eHezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of fJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “aGo, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for bthe land commits flagrant harlotry, 1forsaking the Lord.”

3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and abore him a son.

4 And the Lord said to him, “Name him aJezreel; for yet a little while, and bI will 1punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and cI will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

5 “On that day I will abreak the bow of Israel in the bvalley of Jezreel.”

6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And 1the Lord said to him, “Name her 2Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer ahave compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.

7 “But I will have acompassion on the house of Judah and bdeliver them by the Lord their God, and will not deliver them by cbow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen.”

8 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son.

9 And 1the Lord said, “Name him 2Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not 3your God.”

10 1Yet the number of the sons of Israel

Will be like the asand of the sea,

Which cannot be measured or numbered;

And bin the place

Where it is said to them,

“You are cnot My people,”

It will be said to them,

“You are the dsons of the living God.”

11 And the asons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be bgathered together,

And they will appoint for themselves cone leader,

And they will go up from the land,

For great will be the day of Jezreel.

Chapter 2

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

1 1Say to your brothers, “2Ammi,” and to your sisters, “3Ruhamah.”

2 “Contend with your mother, acontend,

For she is bnot my wife, and I am not her husband;

And let her put away her charlotry from her face

And her adultery from between her breasts,

3 Or I will strip her anaked

And expose her as on the bday when she was born.

I will also cmake her like a wilderness,

Make her like desert land

And slay her with dthirst.

4 “Also, I will have no compassion on her children,

Because they are achildren of harlotry.

5 “For their mother has aplayed the harlot;

She who conceived them has acted shamefully.

For she said, ‘aI will go after my lovers,

Who bgive me my bread and my water,

My wool and my flax, my coil and my drink.’

6 “Therefore, behold, I will ahedge up 1her way with bthorns,

And I will build 2a wall against her so that she cannot find her cpaths.

7 “She will apursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;

And she will seek them, but will not find them.

Then she will say, ‘bI will go back to my cfirst husband,

For it was dbetter for me then than now!’

8 “For she does anot know that it was bI who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil,

And lavished on her silver and gold,

Which they 1used for Baal.

9 “Therefore, I will atake back My grain at 1harvest time

And My new wine in its season.

I will also take away My wool and My flax

Given to cover her nakedness.

10 “And then I will auncover her lewdness

In the sight of her lovers,

And no one will rescue her out of My hand.

11 “I will also aput an end to all her gaiety,

Her bfeasts, her cnew moons, her sabbaths

And all her festal assemblies.

12 “I will adestroy her vines and fig trees,

Of which she said, ‘These are my wages

Which my lovers have given me.’

And I will bmake them a forest,

And the cbeasts of the field will devour them.

13 “I will punish her for the adays of the Baals

When she used to 1boffer sacrifices to them

And cadorn herself with her 2earrings and jewelry,

And follow her lovers, so that she dforgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

aBring her into the wilderness

And speak 1kindly to her.

15 “Then I will give her her avineyards from there,

And bthe valley of Achor as a door of hope.

And she will 1csing there as in the days of her youth,

As in the dday when she came up from the land of Egypt.

16 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord,

“That you will call Me 1aIshi

And will no longer call Me 2Baali.

17 “For aI will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,

So that they will be 1mentioned by their names no more.

18 “In that day I will also make a covenant for them

With the abeasts of the field,

The birds of the sky

And the creeping things of the ground.

And I will 1babolish the bow, the sword and war from the land,

And will make them clie down in safety.

19 “I will abetroth you to Me forever;

Yes, I will betroth you to Me in brighteousness and in justice,

In lovingkindness and in compassion,

20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.

Then you will aknow the Lord.

21 “It will come about in that day that aI will respond,” declares the Lord.

“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,

22 And the aearth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil,

And they will respond to 1Jezreel.

23 “I will asow her for Myself in the land.

bI will also have compassion on 1her who had not obtained compassion,

And cI will say to 2those who were dnot My people,

‘You are My people!’

And 3they will say, ‘You are my God!’ ”

Chapter 3

Hosea’s Second Symbolic Marriage

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a 1woman who is loved by her 2husband, yet an adulteress, even aas the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin bcakes.”

2 So I abought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a 1half of barley.

3 Then I said to her, “You shall astay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a 1man; so I will also be toward you.”

4 For the sons of Israel will remain for many days awithout king or prince, bwithout sacrifice or sacred cpillar and without dephod or 1ehousehold idols.

5 Afterward the sons of Israel will areturn and seek the Lord their God and bDavid their king; and cthey will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.

Chapter 4

God’s Controversy with Israel

1 aListen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel,

For the Lord has a bcase against the inhabitants of the land,

Because there is cno 1faithfulness or 2kindness

Or dknowledge of God in the land.

2 There is aswearing, bdeception, cmurder, dstealing and eadultery.

They employ violence, so that fbloodshed 1follows bloodshed.

3 Therefore the land amourns,

And everyone who lives in it languishes

Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,

And also the fish of the sea 1disappear.

4 Yet let no one 1afind fault, and let none offer reproof;

For your people are like those who bcontend with the priest.

5 So you will astumble by day,

And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;

And I will destroy your bmother.

6 aMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have brejected knowledge,

I also will creject you from being My priest.

Since you have dforgotten the elaw of your God,

I also will forget your children.

7 The more they amultiplied, the more they sinned against Me;

I will bchange their glory into shame.

8 They afeed on the 1sin of My people

And bdirect their desire toward their iniquity.

9 And it will be, like people, alike priest;

So I will bpunish them for their ways

And repay them for their deeds.

10 aThey will eat, but not have enough;

They will bplay the harlot, but not increase,

Because they have 1cstopped giving heed to the Lord.

11 Harlotry, awine and new wine take away the 1understanding.

12 My people aconsult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;

For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,

And they have played the harlot, departing 1from their God.

13 They offer sacrifices on the atops of the mountains

And 1bburn incense on the hills,

cUnder oak, poplar and terebinth,

Because their shade is pleasant.

Therefore your daughters play the harlot

And your 2brides commit adultery.

14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot

Or your 1brides when they commit adultery,

For the men themselves go apart with harlots

And offer sacrifices with atemple prostitutes;

So the people without understanding are 2ruined.

15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot,

Do not let Judah become guilty;

Also do not go to aGilgal,

Or go up to Beth-aven

bAnd take the oath:

“As the Lord lives!”

16 Since Israel is astubborn

Like a stubborn heifer,

1Can the Lord now bpasture them

Like a lamb in a large field?

17 Ephraim is joined to aidols;

bLet him alone.

18 Their liquor gone,

They play the harlot continually;

aTheir 1rulers dearly love shame.

19 aThe wind wraps them in its wings,

And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Chapter 5

The People’s Apostasy Rebuked

1 Hear this, O priests!

Give heed, O house of Israel!

Listen, O house of the king!

For the judgment applies to you,

For you have been a asnare at Mizpah

And a net spread out on Tabor.

2 The arevolters have 1bgone deep in depravity,

But I will chastise all of them.

3 I aknow Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;

For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot,

Israel has defiled itself.

4 Their deeds will not allow them

To return to their God.

For a aspirit of harlotry is within them,

And they bdo not know the Lord.

5 Moreover, the apride of Israel testifies against him,

And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;

bJudah also has stumbled with them.

6 They will ago with their flocks and herds

To seek the Lord, but they will bnot find Him;

He has cwithdrawn from them.

7 They have adealt treacherously against the Lord,

For they have borne 1billegitimate children.

Now the cnew moon will devour them with their 2land.

8 aBlow the horn in bGibeah,

The trumpet in Ramah.

Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:

“cBehind you, Benjamin!”

9 Ephraim will become a adesolation in the bday of rebuke;

Among the tribes of Israel I cdeclare what is sure.

10 The …