1:1 The word of Yãhweh which came to Hosea the son of Beeri during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah kings of Judah, and during the days of Jereboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When Yãhweh first spoke through Hosea, Yãhweh said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking Yãhweh.” 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 And Yãhweh said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And it will come about on that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.” 6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And Yãhweh said to him, “Name her no-mercy, for I will not yet add mercy on the house of Israel, because carrying away, I shall carry them away. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah and deliver them by Yãhweh their Almĩghty, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.” 8 When she had weaned no-mercy, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 And Yãhweh said, “Name him not my people, for you are not my people and I am not for you.” 10 Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and it will come about that, in the place where it is said to them, “You are not my people,” it will be said to them, “You are the sons of the living Mighty-one.” v11 And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and they will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
2:1 “Say to your brothers, Ammi and to your sisters, Ruhamah. 2 Contend with your mother, contend, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; and let her put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts, 3 lest I strip her naked and expose her as on the day when she was born. I will also make her like a wilderness, and make her like desert land, and slay her with thirst. 4 Also, I will have no compassion on her children, because they are children of harlotry. 5 For their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has acted 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 her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths. 7 And she will pursue 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 back to my first husband, when it was better for me then than now!’ 8 For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for the Ba‘al. 9 Therefore, I will take back my grain at harvest 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 uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her out of my hand. 11 I will also put an end to all her gaiety, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her festal assemblies. 12 And I will destroy her vines and fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages which my lovers have given me.’ And I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field will devour them. 13 And I will visit upon her the days of the Ba‘als when she used to offer sacrifices to them and adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry, and follow her lovers, so that she forgot me,” declares Yãhweh. 14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness, and speak kindly to her. 15 Then I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. 16 And it will come about in that day,” declares Yãhweh, “That you will call me ‘my Husband’ and will no longer call me ‘my Lõrd.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Ba‘als from her mouth, so that they will be mentioned by their names no more. 18 In that day I will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and will make them lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me to time immemorial; yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in loving-kindness and in compassion, 20 and I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. Then you will know Yãhweh. 21 And it will come about in that day that I will respond,” declares Yãhweh. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth, 22 and the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. 23 And I will sow her for myself in the land. I will also have compassion on Lo-Ruhamah, and I will say to those who were not my people, my people! and they will say, My Almĩghty!”
3:1 Then Yãhweh said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as Yãhweh loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods who love raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen silver coins and a homer and a half of barley. 3 Then I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; then also I will be with you.” 4 For the sons of Israel will dwell for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols. 5 Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek Yãhweh their Almĩghty and David their king; and they will come trembling to Yãhweh and to his goodness in the last days.
4:1 Listen to the word of Yãhweh, sons of Israel, for Yãhweh has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of the Almĩghty in the land. 2 There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing, and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land mourns, 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 disappear. 4 Yet let no man dispute, and let no man reprove; but your people are like those who cause a priestly fracas. 5 So you will stumble by day, and the prophet also will stumble with you by night; when I destroy your Madonna. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being my priest. Since you have forgotten the Law of your Almĩghty, I also will forget your children. 7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me; they changed my glory into shame. 8 They feed on the sin of my people, and direct their desire toward their iniquity. 9 And it will be, like people, like priest; so I will punish them for their ways, and repay them for their deeds. 10 And they will eat, but not have enough; they will play the harlot, but not increase, because they have stopped giving heed to Yãhweh. 11 Harlotry, wine, and new wine take away the understanding. 12 My people consult 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 from their Almĩghty. 13 They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains and burn incense on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery. 14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot or your brides when they commit adultery, for the men themselves go apart with harlots and offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes; so the people without understanding are ruined. 15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot, do not let Judah become guilty; also do not go to the circle of stones, or go up to the house of iniquity, and take the oath: ‘As Yãhweh lives!’ 16 Since Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer, can Yãhweh now pasture them like a lamb in a large field? 17 Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. 18 Their liquor gone; they play the harlot continually; their rulers dearly love shame. 19 The wind wraps them in its wings, and they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
5:1 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 snare at Mizpah, and a net spread out on Tabor. 2 And the revolters have gone deep in depravity, but I will chastise all of them. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, Ephriam, you have played the harlot, Israel has defiled itself. 4 Their deeds will not allow them to return to their Almĩghty. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know Yãhweh. 5 Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, and Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also has stumbled with them. 6 They will go with their flocks and herds to seek Yãhweh, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. 7 They have dealt treacherously against Yãhweh; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now a month will devour them with their acres. 8 Blow the horn on the hill, the trumpet in the height. Sound an alarm at the house of iniquity: “Behind you, Benjamin!” 9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure. 10 The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary; on them I will pour out my wrath like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he is determined to follow man’s command. 12 Therefore I am like a moth 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 unable to heal you, or to cure you of your wound. 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, I, am tearing; then I am going away; I am lifting up; then there will be none to deliver. 15 I will go away and return to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face; in the distress of them, they will seek me early at deep dawn.
6:1 Come, let us return to Yãhweh. For he has torn us, but he will heal us; he has wounded us, but he will bandage us. 2 He will cause us to live after two days; in the third day he will make us to rise, that we may live before his face. 3 So let us know, let us press on to know Yãhweh. His going forth is fixed at dawn; and he will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth. 4 What shall I do with you, Ephraim? What shall I do with you, Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, and like the dew which goes away early. 5 Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth; and the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. 6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of the Almĩghty rather 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 wrongdoers, tracked with blood. 9 And as raiders wait for a man, so a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed crime. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim’s harlotry is there, Israel has defiled itself. 11 Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of my people.
7:1 When I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, and the evil deeds of Samaria; for they deal falsely; the thief enters in, bandits raid outside, 2 and they do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds surround them; they are plainly before my face. 3 With their wickedness they make the king glad, and the princes with their lies. 4 They are all adulterers like a smoldering baker’s oven, waiting to ¹rise up¹ between the kneading of the dough until the time it is leavened. 5 On “a ¹special day¹ of our king” princes become sick with a hot fever from wine while he ¹joins his hand¹ with mockers. 6 When they approach, their hearts are like a banked oven in their ambushing; their anger sleeps all the night; at daybreak it burns as a flaming fire. 7 All of them are hot like an oven, and they consume their rulers; all their kings have fallen. None of them calls on me. 8 Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; Ephraim has become a pancake not turned. 9 Strangers devour his strength, yet he does not know it; gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, yet he does not know it. 10 Also, the pride of Israel testifies against him, yet they have neither returned to Yãhweh their Almĩghty, nor have they sought him, for all this. 11 So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, mindless; they call Egypt, they go to Assyria. 12 When they go, I will spread my net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly. 13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction is theirs; for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me. 14 And they do not cry to me from their heart when they wail on their beds; for the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves; they turn away from me. 15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me. 16 They turn, but not upward; they are like a deceitful bow; their princes will fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This will be a mocking of them in the land of Egypt.
8:1 Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of Yãhweh, because they have transgressed my covenant, and rebelled against my Law. 2 They cry out to me, “My Almĩghty, we of Israel know you!” 3 Israel has rejected the good; so the enemy will pursue him. 4 They have made kings but not by me; they made princes that I did not know. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, destined to be cut off. 5 He has rejected your calf, Samaria, saying, “My anger burns against them!” How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6 For from Israel even he—a craftsman—made it, so it is not Almĩghty; surely the calf of Samaria will be kindling. 7 For they sow wind, and they reap a whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up. 8 Israel is swallowed up; they are now among the nations like a vessel in which no one delights. 9 For they have gone up to Assyria—like a wild donkey all alone. Ephraim has hired lovers. 10 Even though they hire allies among the nations, now I will gather them up; and they will begin to diminish because of the weight of the ruler’s bureaucrats. 11 Since Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin, they have become altars of sinning for him. 12 Though I wrote for him the great things of my Law, they are regarded as an alien thing. 13 As for my sacrificial gifts, they sacrifice the flesh and eat it, but Yãhweh has taken no delight in them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish them for their sins, because they turn back to Egypt! 14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities, but I will send a fire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings.
9:1 Do not rejoice, Israel, with exultation like the nations! For you have played the harlot, forsaking your Almĩghty. You have loved harlots’ earnings on every threshing floor. 2 Threshing floor and wine press will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them. 3 They will not remain in Yãhweh’s land, when Ephraim turns back to Egypt, but in Assyria they will eat unclean food. 4 They will not pour out libations of wine to Yãhweh; their sacrifices will not please him: their offering is ¹like mourners’ bread¹ to them; all who eat of it will be defiled; for their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of Yãhweh. 5 What will you do on the day of the appointed festival and on the day of the feast of Yãhweh? 6 For behold, they walk in destruction; Egypt will gather them up; Memphis will bury them. Weeds will take over their treasures of silver; thorns will be in their tents. 7 The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come; let Israel know this! The prophet is a fool; the inspired man is demented, because of the grossness of your iniquity, and because your hostility is so great. 8 A watchman over Ephraim, with my Almĩghty, is the prophet; the trap of a bird catcher is put in all his paths; hostility waits in the ¹house of his Almĩghty¹. 9 They have gone deep in depravity as in the days of Gibeah¹; he will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins. 10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to ¹lord hole¹ and devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved. 11 Ephraim like a bird will fly away, as their glory²—from birth, from the womb, and from conception! 12 Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them until not a man is left. Yes, woe to them indeed when I depart from them! 13 Ephraim as I have seen, is planted in a pleasant meadow like Tyre; but Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter. 14 Give them, Yãhweh—what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. 15 All their evil is in the circle of stones; indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house! I will love them no more; all their princes are rebels. 16 Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up; they will bear no fruit. Even though they bear children, I will slay the precious ones of their womb. 17 My Almĩghty will cast them away because they have not listened to him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.
10:1 Israel is a luxuriant vine; he produces fruit for himself. The more his fruit, the more altars he made; the richer his land, the better he made the sacred pillars. 2 Their heart is divided; now they must bear their guilt. Yãhweh will break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars. 3 Indeed, now they will say, “We have no king, because we do not revere Yãhweh. As for the king, what can he do for us?” 4 They speak mere words; with worthless oaths they make covenants; and litigation¹ sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. 5 The inhabitants of Samaria will fear for the calf of the house of iniquity. Indeed, its people will mourn for it, and its idolatrous priests will cry out over it—over its glory, since it has departed from it. 6 The thing itself will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king; Ephraim will be seized with shame, and Israel will be ashamed of its own counsel. 7 Samaria will be cut off with her king, like a stick on the surface of the water¹. 8 Also the high places of trouble, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed; thorn and thistle will grow on their altars; then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!” 9 From the days of Gibeah¹ you have sinned, Israel; there they stand! Did not the battle against the sons of iniquity overtake them in Gibeah¹? 10 When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the peoples will be gathered against them when they are bound to their two iniquities¹.
11 Now Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, and I will put over her neck a good yoke; Ephraim I ride; Judah plows; Jacob harrows for him. 12 Sow for yourselves with righteousness; reap of the fruit of loving kindness; till for youselves the tillable; then it is time to seek Yãhweh until he comes to rain righteousness on you. 13 You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies, because you have trusted in your way—in your numerous warriors. 14 Therefore, a tumult will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. 15 Thus it will be done to you at Bethel because of your great wickedness. At dawn the king of Israel will be completely cut off.
11:1 When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2 ¹As I called¹ to them, ²the more² they walked away from me³; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols. 3 Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. 4 I draw them with cords of leather¹, with ropes of love², and I became to them as one who lifts the bridle³ from their jaws; and I stretched out to him giving feed ªto himª. 5 They will return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria— he will be their king, because they refused to return to me. 6 And the sword will whirl in his cities, and will put an end to their gate bars and will consume them out of their counsels. 7 So my people are hanged for turning from me. Though they altogether call to Baal, he will not rise up. 8 How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I surrender you, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned over within me; together my compassions become hot. 9 I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not turn to destroy Ephraim. For I am El and not man in your midst, holy, and I will not come into the city. 10 After Yãhweh they shall walk; as a lion he will roar; when he roars, then his sons will be trembling from the west. 11 They will be trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria; and I will make them dwell in their houses, declares Yãhweh. 12 Ephraim surrounds me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah still roams as the people¹ of God, and as the people¹ of the Holy One, who is faithful.
12:1 Ephraim pastures on wind, and pursues the east wind all day¹; he multiplies lies and violence. Moreover, he makes a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt. 2 Yãhweh also has a dispute with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds. 3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his maturity he contended with the Almĩghty. 4 And he struggled with the Messenger and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor; he found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us, 5 even Yãhweh, the Almĩghty of hosts; Yãhweh is his name. 6 Therefore, return to your Almĩghty; observe kindness and justice, and wait for your Almĩghty continually. 7 A merchant, in whose hands are false balances—he loves to oppress. 8 And Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich; I have found wealth for myself; in all my labors they will find in me no iniquity, which would be sin.” 9 But I have been Yãhweh your Almĩghty since the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of the appointed festival. 10 I also speaketh to the prophets, and I giveth numerous visions; also by the hand of the prophets I giveth parables. 11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? Surely they are worthless. In the circle of stones they sacrifice bulls; yes, their altars are like the stone heaps beside the furrows of the field. 12 Now Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and Israel worked for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. 13 But by a prophet Yãhweh brought Israel from Egypt, and by a prophet he was kept. 14 Ephraim has provoked to bitter anger; so his Lõrd will leave his bloodguilt on him, and bring back his reproach to him.
13:1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but through Baal he did wrong and died. 2 And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves molten images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!” 3 Therefore, they will be like the morning cloud, and like dew which soon disappears, like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor, and like smoke from a chimney. 4 Yet I have been Yãhweh your Almĩghty since the land of Egypt; and you were not to know any Almĩghty except me, and there is no savior besides me. 5 I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. 6 As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore, they forgot me. 7 So I will be like a lion to them; like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside. 8 I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and I will tear open their chests; there I will also devour them like a lioness, as a wild beast would tear them. 9 It is your destruction, Israel, that you are against me, against 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 stored up. 13 The pains of childbirth come upon him; he is not a wise son; for it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb. 14 Shall I ransom them from the power of the grave? Shall I redeem them from death? Death, where are your thorns? Grave, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from my sight. 15 Though he flourishes among the reeds, an east wind will come, the wind of Yãhweh coming up from the wilderness; and his fountain will become dry, and his spring will be dried up; it will plunder his treasury of every precious article. 16 Samaria will be held guilty; for she has rebelled against her Almĩghty. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed in pieces; and their pregnant women will be ripped open.
14:1 Return, Israel, to Yãhweh your Almĩghty; for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 2 Take words with you and return to Yãhweh. Say to him, “Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.” 3 “Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses; nor will we say again, ‘Our gods,’ to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds mercy.” 4 I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely; for my anger has turned away from them. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily, and he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon. 6 His shoots will sprout, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. 7 Those who live in his shadow will again raise grain, and they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. 8 Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; from me comes your fruit. 9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of Yãhweh are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them.