Hos.md

Hosea

Hosea 1

1. The word of Jehovah 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 the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2. When Jehovah spoke at the first by Hosea, Jehovah said to Hosea, Go, take to thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom, departing from Jehovah.

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

4. And Jehovah said to him, Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.

5. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

6. And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And Jehovah said to him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah, for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them.

7. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by Jehovah 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 bore a son.

9. And Jehovah said, Call his name Lo-ammi, for ye are not my people, and I will not be yours.

10. Yet the number of the sons of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. And it shall come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, Ye are not my people, it shall be said to them, The sons of the living God.

11. And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Hosea 2

1. Say ye to your brothers, Ammi, and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

2. Contend with your mother. Contend, for she is not my wife, nor am I her husband. And let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries 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 set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.

4. Yea, I will have no mercy upon her sons, for they are sons of whoredom,

5. for their mother has played the harlot. She who conceived them has done shamefully, 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.

6. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she shall not find her paths.

7. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall 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. For she did not know that I gave her the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

9. Therefore I will take back my grain in the time of it, and my new wine in the season of it, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

10. And now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

11. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

12. And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, These are my hire that my lovers have given me. And I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13. And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, to which she burned incense when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says Jehovah.

14. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak soothingly to her.

15. And I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope. And she shall make answer 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 it shall be at that day, says Jehovah, that thou shall call me Ishi, and shall no more call me Baali.

17. For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned 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 the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely.

19. And I will betroth thee to me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in justice, and in loving kindness, and in mercies.

20. I will even betroth thee to me in faithfulness, and thou shall know Jehovah.

21. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will answer, says Jehovah. I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth,

22. and the earth shall answer the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel.

23. And I will sow her to me in the earth. And I will have mercy upon her who had not obtained mercy. And I will say to those who were not my people, Thou are my people, and they shall say, My God.

Hosea 3

1. And Jehovah said to me, Go again, love a woman beloved of her friend, and an adulteress, even as Jehovah loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins.

2. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer of barley, and a half-homer of barley.

3. And I said to her, Thou shall abide for me many days. Thou shall not play the harlot, and thou shall not be any man's wife. So I will also be toward thee.

4. For the sons of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without ruler, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim.

5. Afterward the sons of Israel shall return and seek Jehovah their God and David their king, and shall come with fear to Jehovah and to his goodness in the latter days.

Hosea 4

1. Hear the word of Jehovah, ye sons of Israel, for Jehovah has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

2. There is nothing but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery. They break out, and blood touches blood.

3. Therefore the land shall mourn, and everyone who dwells in it shall languish with the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens. Yea, the fishes of the sea shall also be taken away.

4. Yet, let no man strive, nor let any man reprove, for thy people are as those who strive with the priest.

5. And thou shall stumble in the day, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night. And I will destroy thy mother.

6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou have rejected knowledge, I also will reject thee, that thou shall be no priest to me. Since thou have forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy sons.

7. As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.

8. They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.

9. And it shall be, like people, like priest. And I will punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings.

10. And they shall eat, and not have enough. They shall play the harlot, and shall not increase, because they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

11. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding.

12. My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declares to them, for the spirit of whoredom has caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, departing from under their God.

13. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow of it is good. Therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.

14. I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your brides when they commit adultery. For themselves go apart with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes. And the people who do not understand shall be overthrown.

15. Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend, and come not ye to Gilgal, nor go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah lives.

16. For Israel has behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Now Jehovah will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

17. Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone.

18. Their drink has become sour. They play the harlot continually. Her rulers dearly love shame.

19. The wind has wrapped her up in its wings, and they shall be put to shame because of their sacrifices.

Hosea 5

1. Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, O house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king, for to you pertains the judgment. For ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

2. And the revolters have gone deep in making slaughter, but I am a rebuker of them all.

3. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me. For now, O Ephraim, thou have played the harlot; Israel is defiled.

4. Their doings will not allow them to turn to their God, for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they do not know Jehovah.

5. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity. Judah also shall stumble with them.

6. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah, but they shall not find him. He has withdrawn himself from them.

7. They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah, for they have borne strange sons. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Beth-aven, behind thee, O Benjamin.

9. Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke. I have made known that which shall surely be among the tribes of Israel.

10. The rulers of Judah are like those who remove the landmark. I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11. Ephraim is oppressed. He is crushed in judgment, because he was content to walk after man's command.

12. Therefore I am 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 Assyria, and sent to king Jareb. But he is not able to heal you, nor will he 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 carry off, and there shall be none to deliver.

15. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.

Hosea 6

1. Come, and let us return to Jehovah, for he has torn, and he will heal us. He has smitten, and he will bind us up.

2. After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him.

3. And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah. His going forth is sure as the morning, and he will come to us as the rain, as the latter rain that waters the earth.

4. O Ephraim, what shall I do to thee? O Judah, what shall I do to thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goes away early.

5. Therefore I have hewed them by the prophets. I have slain them by the words of my mouth. And thy judgments are as the light that goes forth.

6. For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

7. But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant. There they have dealt treacherously against me.

8. Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood.

9. And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem. Yea, they have committed iniquity.

10. I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. Whoredom is there in Ephraim; Israel is defiled.

11. Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for thee when I bring back the captivity of my people.

Hosea 7

1. When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria. For they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the troop of robbers ravages outside.

2. And they do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own doings have surrounded them; they are before my face.

3. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the rulers with their lies.

4. They are all adulterers. They are as an oven heated by the baker. He ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.

5. On the day of our king the rulers made themselves sick with the heat of wine. He stretched out his hand with scoffers.

6. For they have made their heart ready like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night. In the morning it burns as a flaming fire.

7. They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges. All their kings are fallen. There is none among those who call to me.

8. Ephraim, he mixes himself among the peoples. Ephraim is a cake not turned.

9. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he does not know. Yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he does not know.

10. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face. Yet they have not returned to Jehovah their God, nor sought him for all this.

11. And Ephraim is like a silly dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria.

12. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them. I will bring them down as the birds of the heavens. I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard.

13. Woe to them! For they have wandered from me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

14. And they have not cried to me with their heart, but they howl upon their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They rebel against me.

15. Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet they devise mischief against me.

16. They return, but not to him on high. They are like a deceitful bow. Their rulers shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Hosea 8

1. Set the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle he comes against the house of Jehovah, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.

2. They shall cry to me, My God, we, Israel know thee.

3. Israel has cast off that which is good. The enemy shall pursue him.

4. They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made rulers, and I knew it not. They have made themselves idols of their silver and their gold, that they may be cut off.

5. He has cast off thy calf, O Samaria. My anger is kindled against them. How long will it be ere they attain to innocence?

6. For even this is from Israel: the workman made it, and it is no God. Yea, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.

7. For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The blade shall yield no meal. If so be it yields, strangers shall swallow it up.

8. Israel is swallowed up. They are now among the nations as a vessel in which no man delights.

9. For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey alone by himself. Ephraim has hired lovers.

10. Yea, though they hire among the nations, I will now gather them, and they shall begin to be diminished because of the burden of the king of rulers.

11. Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been to him for sinning.

12. I wrote for him the multitude of my law, but they are counted as a strange thing.

13. As for the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it, but Jehovah does not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. They shall return to Egypt.

14. For 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 the castles thereof.

Hosea 9

1. Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy like the peoples, for thou have played the harlot, departing from thy God. Thou have loved hire upon every grain-floor.

2. The threshing floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail her.

3. They shall not dwell in Jehovah's land, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.

4. They shall not pour out wine offerings to Jehovah, nor shall they be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices shall be to them as the bread of mourners. All who eat of it shall be polluted, for their bread shall be for their appetite. It shall not come into the house of Jehovah.

5. What will ye do in the day of solemn assembly, and in the day of the feast of Jehovah?

6. For, lo, they have gone away from destruction, yet Egypt shall gather them up. Memphis shall bury them. Their pleasant things of silver, nettles shall possess them. Thorns shall be in their tents.

7. The days of visitation have come. The days of recompense have come. Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the abundance of thine iniquity, and because the enmity is great.

8. Ephraim was a watchman with my God. As for the prophet, a fowler's snare is in all his ways, and enmity 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 visit their sins.

10. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season. But they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that which they loved.

11. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird. There shall be no birth, and none with child, and no conception.

12. Though they bring up their sons, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!

13. Ephraim, just as I have seen Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place, but Ephraim shall bring out his sons to the slayer.

14. Give them, O Jehovah-what will thou give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15. All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more. All their rulers are rebels.

16. Ephraim is smitten. Their root is dried up. They shall bear no fruit. Yea, though they bring forth, yet I will kill the beloved fruit of their womb.

17. My God will cast them away because they did not hearken to him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Hosea 10

1. Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. According to the goodness of their land they have made goodly pillars.

2. Their heart is divided. Now they shall be found guilty. He will smite their altars. He will destroy their pillars.

3. Surely now they shall say, We have no king, for we fear not Jehovah. And the king, what can he do for us?

4. They speak vain words, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

5. The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in terror for the calves of Beth-aven. For the people of it shall mourn over it, and the priests of it, who rejoiced over it for the glory of it, because it has departed from it.

6. It shall also be carried to Assyria for a present to king Jareb. Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

7. As for Samaria, its king is cut off, as foam upon the water.

8. The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars, and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us.

9. O Israel, thou have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they stood. The battle against the sons of iniquity does not overtake them in Gibeah.

10. When it is my desire, I will chastise them. And the peoples shall be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.

11. And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, that loves to tread out the grain. But I have passed over upon her fair neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah shall plow. Jacob shall break his clods.

12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness. Reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek Jehovah, till he comes and rains righteousness upon you.

13. Ye have plowed wickedness. Ye have reaped iniquity. Ye have eaten the fruit of lies. For thou trusted in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

14. Therefore a tumult shall arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel in the day of battle; the mother was dashed in pieces with her sons.

15. So shall Bethel do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off.

Hosea 11

1. When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

2. The more the prophets called them, the more they went from them. They sacrificed to the Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

3. Yet I taught Ephraim to walk. I took them on my arms, but they did not know that I healed them.

4. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who lift up the yoke on their jaws. And I laid food before them.

5. They shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be their king, because they refused to return to me.

6. And the sword shall fall upon their cities, and shall consume their bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

7. And my people are bent on backsliding from me. Though they call them to him who is on high, none at all will exalt him.

8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I cast thee off, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me. My compassions are kindled together.

9. I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee, and I will not come in wrath.

10. They shall walk after Jehovah, who will roar like a lion. For he will roar, and the sons shall come trembling from the west.

11. They shall come trembling as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria. And I will make them to dwell in their houses, says Jehovah.

12. Ephraim encompasses me around with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah yet rules with God, and is faithful with the Holy One.

Hosea 12

1. Ephraim feeds on wind, and follows after the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. And they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.

2. Jehovah has also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways. He will recompense him according to his doings.

3. In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he had strength with God.

4. Yea, he had strength over the agent, and prevailed, as he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us.

5. Even Jehovah, the God of hosts, Jehovah is his memorial.

6. Therefore turn thou to thy God. Keep kindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually.

7. He is a Canaanite. The balances of deceit are in his hand. He loves to oppress.

8. And Ephraim said, Surely I have become rich. I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors they shall find no iniquity in me that is sin.

9. But I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.

10. I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions. And by the ministry of the prophets I have used similitudes.

11. Is Gilead iniquity? They are altogether false. In Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks. Yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field.

12. And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

13. And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.

14. Ephraim has provoked to anger most bitterly. Therefore his blood shall be left upon him, and his reproach his Lord shall return to him.

Hosea 13

1. When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but when he offended in Baal, he died.

2. And now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves.

3. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that passes away early, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

4. Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shall know no god but me, and besides me there is no savior.

5. I knew thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

6. According to their pasture, so they were filled. They were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.

7. Therefore I am to them as a lion. As a leopard I will watch by the way.

8. I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart. And there I will devour them like a lioness. The wild beast shall tear them.

9. It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou are against me, against thy help.

10. Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities, and thy judges, of whom thou said, Give me a king and rulers?

11. I have given thee a king in my anger, and have taken him away in my wrath.

12. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up. His sin is laid up in store.

13. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him. He is an unwise son, for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of sons.

14. I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death. O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy sting? Repentance shall be hid from my eyes.

15. Though he be fruitful among his brothers, an east wind shall come, the breath of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up. He shall make spoil of the treasure of all goodly vessels.

16. Samaria shall bear her guilt, for she has rebelled against her God. They shall fall by the sword. Their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Hosea 14

1. O Israel, return to Jehovah thy God, for thou have fallen by thine iniquity.

2. Take with you words, and return to Jehovah. Say to him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good. So we will render as bullocks the offering of our lips.

3. Assyria shall not save us. We will not ride upon horses, nor will we say any more to the work of our hands, Our gods. For in thee the fatherless finds mercy.

4. I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. For my anger is turned away from him.

5. I will be as the dew to Israel. He shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

6. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

7. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return. They shall revive as the grain, and blossom as the vine. The scent of it shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

8. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered, and will regard him. I am like a green fir tree. From me thy fruit is found.

9. Who is wise, that he may understand these things, prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them. But transgressors shall fall therein.