Hosea 2
New American Standard Bible
Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned
2 [a]Say to your brothers, “[b]Ammi,” and to your sisters, “[c]Ruhamah.”
2 “Dispute with your mother, (A)dispute,
Because she is (B)not my wife, and I am not her husband;
But she must remove her (C)infidelity from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
3 Otherwise, I will strip her (D)naked
And expose her as on the (E)day she was born.
I will also (F)make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land,
And put her to death with (G)thirst.
4 Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are (H)children of infidelity.
5 For their mother has (I)committed prostitution;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘(J)I will go after my lovers,
Who (K)give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my (L)oil and my drink.’
6 Therefore, behold, I will (M)obstruct [d]her way with (N)thorns,
And I will build [e]a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her (O)paths.
7 And she will (P)pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘(Q)I will go back to my (R)first husband,
Because it was (S)better for me then than now!’
8 “Yet she does (T)not know that it was (U)I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they [f]used for Baal.
9 Therefore, I will [g](V)take back My grain at [h]harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
That I gave to cover her nakedness.
10 So now I will (W)uncover her [i]lewdness
Before the eyes of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11 I will also (X)put an end to all her joy,
Her (Y)feasts, her (Z)new moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
12 And I will (AA)destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will (AB)turn them into a forest,
And the (AC)animals of the field will devour them.
13 I will punish her for the (AD)days of the Baals
When she used to [j](AE)offer sacrifices to them
And (AF)adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she (AG)forgot Me,” declares the Lord.
Restoration of Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
(AH)Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak [k]kindly to her.
15 Then I will give her her (AI)vineyards from there,
And (AJ)the [l]Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will [m](AK)respond there as in the days of her youth,
As in the (AL)day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
16 And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me [n](AM)my husband
And no longer call Me my [o]Baal.
17 For (AN)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will no longer be [p]mentioned by their names.
18 On that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the (AO)animals of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the crawling things of the ground.
And I will [q](AP)eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
And will let them (AQ)lie down in safety.
19 I will (AR)betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in (AS)righteousness and in justice,
In favor and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will (AT)know the Lord.
21 “And it will come about on that day that (AU)I will respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22 And the (AV)earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil,
And they will respond to [r]Jezreel.
23 I will (AW)sow her for Myself in the land.
(AX)I will also have compassion on [s]her who had not obtained compassion,
And (AY)I will say to [t]those who were (AZ)not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And [u]they will say, ‘You are my God!’”
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Heb
- Hosea 2:1 I.e., my people
- Hosea 2:1 I.e., she has obtained compassion
- Hosea 2:6 As in some ancient versions; MT your
- Hosea 2:6 Lit her stone wall so that
- Hosea 2:8 Or made into the
- Hosea 2:9 Lit return and take My
- Hosea 2:9 Lit its time
- Hosea 2:10 Or shame
- Hosea 2:13 Or burn incense
- Hosea 2:14 Lit upon her heart
- Hosea 2:15 Lit Valley of Trouble
- Hosea 2:15 Or give answer
- Hosea 2:16 Heb Ishi
- Hosea 2:16 Also meaning husband in Heb, besides a name for false gods
- Hosea 2:17 Or remembered
- Hosea 2:18 Lit break
- Hosea 2:22 I.e., God sows
- Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ruhamah
- Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ammi
- Hosea 2:23 Lit he
Hosea 3
New American Standard Bible
Hosea’s Redemption of Gomer
3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love [a]a woman who is loved by her [b]husband, yet is committing adultery, (A)as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love [c]raisin (B)cakes.” 2 So I (C)purchased her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and a [d]homer and a [e]lethech of barley. 3 Then I said to her, “You shall (D)live with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute, nor shall you have another man; so I will also be toward you.” 4 For the sons of Israel will live for many days (E)without a king or leader, (F)without sacrifice or (G)memorial stone, and without (H)ephod or [f](I)household idols. 5 Afterward the sons of Israel will (J)return and seek the Lord their God and (K)David their king; and (L)they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.
Hosea 4
New American Standard Bible
God’s Controversy with Israel
4 (A)Listen to the word of the Lord, you sons of Israel,
Because the Lord has a (B)case against the inhabitants of the land,
For there is (C)no [a]faithfulness, nor [b]loyalty,
Nor (D)knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is (E)oath-taking, (F)[c]denial, (G)murder, (H)stealing, and (I)adultery.
They employ violence, so that (J)bloodshed [d]follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land (K)mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky,
And even the fish of the sea [e]disappear.
4 Yet let no one [f](L)find fault, and let no one rebuke;
For your people are like those who (M)contend with a priest.
5 So you will (N)stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your (O)mother.
6 (P)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Since you have (Q)rejected knowledge,
I also will (R)reject you from being My priest.
Since you have (S)forgotten the (T)Law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 The more they (U)multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will (V)change their glory into shame.
8 They (W)feed on the [g]sin of My people,
And (X)long for their wrongdoing.
9 And it will be, like people, (Y)like priest;
So I will (Z)punish them for their ways
And repay them for their deeds.
10 (AA)They will eat, but not have enough;
They will (AB)play the prostitute, but not [h]increase,
Because they (AC)gave up devoting themselves to the Lord.
11 [i]Infidelity, (AD)wine, and new wine take away the [j]understanding.
12 My people (AE)consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;
For a spirit of infidelity has led them astray,
And they have been unfaithful, departing [k]from their God.
13 They offer sacrifices on the (AF)tops of the mountains
And [l](AG)burn incense on the hills,
(AH)Under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
Because their shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters play the prostitute,
And your [m]brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute,
Or your [n]brides when they commit adultery,
Because the men themselves slip away with the prostitutes
And offer sacrifices with (AI)temple prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are ruined.
15 Though you, Israel, play the prostitute,
Judah must not become guilty;
Also you are not to go to (AJ)Gilgal,
Nor go up to Beth-aven
(AK)And take the oath:
“As the Lord lives!”
16 Since Israel is (AL)stubborn
Like a stubborn cow,
[o]Will the Lord now (AM)pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?
17 Ephraim is allied with (AN)idols;
(AO)Leave him alone.
18 Their liquor is gone,
They prostitute themselves continually;
[p](AP)Their [q]rulers dearly love shame.
19 (AQ)The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be [r]put to shame because of their sacrifices.
Footnotes
- Hosea 4:1 Or truth
- Hosea 4:1 Or kindness
- Hosea 4:2 I.e., of truth
- Hosea 4:2 Lit touches
- Hosea 4:3 Lit are taken away
- Hosea 4:4 Lit contend
- Hosea 4:8 Or sin offering
- Hosea 4:10 I.e., either in population or wealth
- Hosea 4:11 Or Prostitution
- Hosea 4:11 Lit heart
- Hosea 4:12 Lit from under
- Hosea 4:13 Or offer sacrifices
- Hosea 4:13 Or daughters-in-law
- Hosea 4:14 Or daughters-in-law
- Hosea 4:16 Or The Lord will now pasture...field.
- Hosea 4:18 Another reading is They dearly love the shame of gifts
- Hosea 4:18 Lit shields
- Hosea 4:19 Or ashamed
Hosea 5
New American Standard Bible
The People’s Apostasy Rebuked
5 Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, you of the house of the king!
For the judgment applies to you,
Because you have been a (A)trap at Mizpah,
And a net spread out on Tabor.
2 And the (B)rebels have (C)gone deep in [a]depravity,
But I will discipline all of them.
3 I (D)know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful,
Israel has defiled itself.
4 Their deeds will not allow them
To return to their God.
For a (E)spirit of [b]infidelity is within them,
And they (F)do not know the Lord.
5 Moreover, the (G)pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their wrongdoing;
(H)Judah also has stumbled with them.
6 They will (I)go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will (J)not find Him;
He has (K)withdrawn from them.
7 They have (L)dealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have given birth to [c](M)illegitimate children.
Now the (N)new moon will devour them with their [d]land.
8 (O)Blow the horn in (P)Gibeah,
And the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
“(Q)Behind you, Benjamin!”
9 Ephraim will become a (R)desolation in the (S)day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I (T)make known what is trustworthy.
10 The leaders of Judah have become like those who (U)displace a boundary marker;
On them I will (V)pour out My anger (W)like water.
11 Ephraim is (X)oppressed, broken by judgment,
(Y)Because he was determined to follow [e]man’s command.
12 Therefore I am like a (Z)moth to Ephraim,
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his [f]sore,
Ephraim then went to (AA)Assyria
And sent word to [g](AB)King Jareb.
But he is (AC)unable to heal you,
Or to cure you of your [h]sore.
14 For I will be (AD)like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
(AE)I, yes I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be (AF)no one to rescue.
15 I will go away and return to My place
Until they [i](AG)acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their distress they will (AH)search for Me.
Footnotes
- Hosea 5:2 Or slaughter
- Hosea 5:4 Or prostitution
- Hosea 5:7 Lit strange
- Hosea 5:7 Lit portions
- Hosea 5:11 Or with some ancient versions, nothingness
- Hosea 5:13 Or ulcer
- Hosea 5:13 Or another reading is the great king; or the contentious king
- Hosea 5:13 Or ulcer
- Hosea 5:15 Or suffer their punishment
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