Hosea 1-14

English Standard Version

1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, ^(A)in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of ^(B)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

Hosea's Wife and Children

²When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, ^(C)“Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have ^(D)children of whoredom, for ^(E)the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” ³So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

⁴And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while ^(F)I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and ^(G)I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. ⁵And on that day ^(H)I will break the bow of Israel ^(I)in the Valley of Jezreel.”

⁶She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, ^(J)“Call her name No Mercy,^[a] for ^(K)I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. ⁷But ^(L)I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I ^(M)will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

⁸When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. ⁹And the Lord said, ^(N)“Call his name Not My People,^[b] for ^(O)you are not my people, and I am not your God.”^[c]

¹⁰^[d] Yet ^(P)the number of the children of Israel shall be ^(Q)like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. ^(R)And ^(S)in the place where it was said to them, ^(T)“You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, ^(U)“Children^[e] of ^(V)the living God.” ¹¹And ^(W)the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and ^(X)they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished

2 ^[f] Say to your brothers, ^(Y)“You are my people,”^[g] and to your sisters, ^(Z)“You have received mercy.”^[h]

²“Plead with your mother, plead—
    for ^(AA)she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband—
that she put away ^(AB)her whoring from her face,
    and her adultery from between her breasts;
³lest ^(AC)I strip her naked
    and make her as ^(AD)in the day she was born,
and ^(AE)make her like a wilderness,
    and make her like a parched land,
    and kill her with thirst.
⁴^(AF)Upon her children also I will have no mercy,
    ^(AG)because they are children of whoredom.
⁵For ^(AH)their mother has played the whore;
    she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For ^(AI)she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
    who ^(AJ)give me my bread and my water,
    my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
⁶Therefore ^(AK)I will hedge up her^[i] way with thorns,
    and ^(AL)I will build a wall against her,
    so that she cannot find her paths.
⁷She shall pursue her lovers
    but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
    but shall not find them.
^(AM)Then she shall say,
    ‘I will go and return to ^(AN)my first husband,
    ^(AO)for it was better for me then than now.’
⁸And ^(AP)she did not know
    that it was ^(AQ)I who gave her
    ^(AR)the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on ^(AS)her silver and gold,
    ^(AT)which they used for Baal.
⁹Therefore ^(AU)I will take back
    my grain in its time,
    and my wine in its season,
and ^(AV)I will take away my wool and my flax,
    which were to cover her nakedness.
¹⁰Now ^(AW)I will uncover her lewdness
    in the sight of her lovers,
    and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
¹¹^(AX)And I will put an end to all her mirth,
    her feasts, her ^(AY)new moons, her ^(AZ)Sabbaths,
    and all her ^(BA)appointed feasts.
¹²And ^(BB)I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
    ^(BC)of which she said,
‘These are ^(BD)my wages,
    which my lovers have given me.’
I will make them a forest,
    ^(BE)and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
¹³And ^(BF)I will punish her for ^(BG)the feast days of the Baals
    when she burned offerings to them
and ^(BH)adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,
    and went after her lovers
    and forgot me, declares the Lord.

The Lord's Mercy on Israel

¹⁴“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
    and ^(BI)bring her into the wilderness,
    and ^(BJ)speak tenderly to her.
¹⁵And there I will give her her vineyards
    and make the Valley of Achor^[j] a door of hope.
And there she shall answer ^(BK)as in the days of her youth,
    as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁶“And ^(BL)in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ ¹⁷For ^(BM)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. ¹⁸And ^(BN)I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And ^(BO)I will abolish^[k] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in ^(BP)safety. ¹⁹And I will betroth you to me ^(BQ)forever. ^(BR)I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. ²⁰^(BS)I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And ^(BT)you shall know the Lord.

²¹“And ^(BU)in that day ^(BV)I will answer, declares the Lord,
    I will answer the heavens,
    and they shall answer the earth,
²²and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and they shall answer ^(BW)Jezreel,^[l]
²³    and ^(BX)I will sow her for myself in the land.
And ^(BY)I ^(BZ)will have mercy on No Mercy,^[m]
    and ^(CA)I will say to Not My People,^[n] ^(CB)‘You are my people’;
    and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

Hosea Redeems His Wife

3 And the Lord said to me, ^(CC)“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” ²So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a ^(CD)homer and a lethech^[o] of barley. ³And I said to her, “You must ^(CE)dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” ⁴For the children of Israel ^(CF)shall dwell many days ^(CG)without king or prince, ^(CH)without sacrifice or ^(CI)pillar, without ^(CJ)ephod or ^(CK)household gods. ⁵Afterward ^(CL)the children of Israel shall return and ^(CM)seek the Lord their God, and ^(CN)David their king, ^(CO)and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the ^(CP)latter days.

The Lord Accuses Israel

4 ^(CQ)Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
    for ^(CR)the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
    and ^(CS)no knowledge of God in the land;
²^(CT)there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
    they break all bounds, and ^(CU)bloodshed follows bloodshed.
³Therefore ^(CV)the land mourns,
    and all who dwell in it languish,
^(CW)and also the beasts of the field
    and the birds of the heavens,
    ^(CX)and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

⁴^(CY)Yet let no one contend,
    and let none accuse,
    for with you is ^(CZ)my contention, O priest.^[p]
⁵You shall stumble by day;
    the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
    and I will destroy ^(DA)your mother.
⁶My people are destroyed ^(DB)for lack of knowledge;
    ^(DC)because you have rejected knowledge,
    I reject you ^(DD)from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
    ^(DE)I also will forget your children.

⁷^(DF)The more they increased,
    the more they sinned against me;
    ^(DG)I will change their glory into shame.
⁸^(DH)They feed on the sin^[q] of my people;
    they are greedy for their iniquity.
⁹^(DI)And it shall be like people, like priest;
    I will punish them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.
¹⁰^(DJ)They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
    they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
    to cherish ¹¹whoredom, wine, and new wine,
    which ^(DK)take away the understanding.
¹²My people ^(DL)inquire of a piece of wood,
    and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For ^(DM)a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
    and they have left their God to play the whore.
¹³^(DN)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
    and burn offerings on the hills,
^(DO)under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
    because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
    and your brides commit adultery.
¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
    nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for ^(DP)the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
    and sacrifice with ^(DQ)cult prostitutes,
and a people ^(DR)without understanding shall come to ruin.

¹⁵Though you play the whore, O ^(DS)Israel,
    let not ^(DT)Judah become guilty.
^(DU)Enter not into ^(DV)Gilgal,
    nor go up to ^(DW)Beth-aven,
    and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
¹⁶Like a stubborn heifer,
    Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
    like a lamb in a broad pasture?

¹⁷^(DX)Ephraim is joined to idols;
    ^(DY)leave him alone.
¹⁸When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
    ^(DZ)their rulers^[r] dearly love shame.
¹⁹^(EA)A wind has wrapped them^[s] in its wings,
    and they shall ^(EB)be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah

5 ^(EC)Hear this, O priests!
    Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
    For the judgment is for you;
for ^(ED)you have been a snare at Mizpah
    and a net spread upon ^(EE)Tabor.
²And ^(EF)the revolters ^(EG)have gone deep into slaughter,
    but ^(EH)I will discipline all of them.

³^(EI)I know Ephraim,
    and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
    Israel is defiled.
⁴^(EJ)Their deeds do not permit them
    to return to their God.
For ^(EK)the spirit of whoredom is within them,
    and they know not the Lord.

⁵^(EL)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;^[t]
    Israel and ^(EM)Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
    ^(EN)Judah also shall stumble with them.
⁶^(EO)With their flocks and herds they shall go
    to seek the Lord,
^(EP)but they will not find him;
    ^(EQ)he has withdrawn from them.
⁷^(ER)They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;
    for they have borne alien children.
    Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

⁸^(ES)Blow the horn in ^(ET)Gibeah,
    the trumpet in ^(EU)Ramah.
Sound the alarm at ^(EV)Beth-aven;
    we follow you,^[u] O Benjamin!
⁹Ephraim shall become a desolation
    in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
    I make known what is sure.
¹⁰The princes of Judah have become
    like ^(EW)those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
    my wrath like water.
¹¹Ephraim is ^(EX)oppressed, crushed in judgment,
    because he was determined to go after filth.^[v]
¹²But I am ^(EY)like a moth to Ephraim,
    and ^(EZ)like dry rot to the house of Judah.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness,
    and Judah ^(FA)his wound,
then Ephraim went ^(FB)to Assyria,
    and sent to the great king.^[w]
^(FC)But he is not able to cure you
    or heal ^(FD)your wound.
¹⁴For I will be ^(FE)like a lion to ^(FF)Ephraim,
    and like a young lion to the house of ^(FG)Judah.
^(FH)I, even I, will tear and go away;
    I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

¹⁵^(FI)I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and ^(FJ)in their distress earnestly seek me.

Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

6 “Come, let us ^(FK)return to the Lord;
    for ^(FL)he has torn us, that he may heal us;
    he has struck us down, and ^(FM)he will bind us up.
²After two days ^(FN)he will revive us;
    on the third day he will raise us up,
    that we may live before him.
³^(FO)Let us know; ^(FP)let us press on to know the Lord;
    ^(FQ)his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us ^(FR)as the showers,
    ^(FS)as the spring rains that water the earth.”

⁴What shall I do with you, ^(FT)O ^(FU)Ephraim?
    What shall I do with you, O ^(FV)Judah?
Your love is ^(FW)like a morning cloud,
    ^(FX)like the dew that goes early away.
⁵Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
    I have slain them ^(FY)by the words of my mouth,
    and my judgment goes forth as the light.
⁶For ^(FZ)I desire steadfast love^[x] and not sacrifice,
    ^(GA)the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷But ^(GB)like Adam they ^(GC)transgressed the covenant;
    ^(GD)there they dealt faithlessly with me.
⁸^(GE)Gilead is a city of evildoers,
    ^(GF)tracked with blood.
⁹As robbers ^(GG)lie in wait for a man,
    so the priests band together;
they murder on the way to ^(GH)Shechem;
    they commit villainy.
¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
    ^(GI)Ephraim's whoredom is there; ^(GJ)Israel is defiled.

¹¹For you also, O ^(GK)Judah, ^(GL)a harvest is appointed.

When ^(GM)I restore the fortunes of my people,
7 ^(GN)when I would heal Israel,
    the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
    and the evil deeds of ^(GO)Samaria,
for ^(GP)they deal falsely;
    the thief breaks in,
    and the bandits raid outside.
²But they do not consider
    that ^(GQ)I remember all their evil.
Now ^(GR)their deeds surround them;
    ^(GS)they are before my face.
³By their evil ^(GT)they make ^(GU)the king glad,
    and the princes by their treachery.
⁴^(GV)They are all adulterers;
    they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
    from the kneading of the dough
    until it is leavened.
⁵On the day of ^(GW)our king, the princes
    became sick with the heat of wine;
    he stretched out his hand with mockers.
⁶For with hearts like an oven ^(GX)they approach their intrigue;
    all night their anger smolders;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
⁷All of them are hot as an oven,
    and they devour their rulers.
All ^(GY)their kings ^(GZ)have fallen,
    and none of them calls upon me.

⁸Ephraim ^(HA)mixes himself with the peoples;
    Ephraim is a cake not turned.
⁹^(HB)Strangers devour his strength,
    and ^(HC)he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
    and ^(HD)he knows it not.
¹⁰^(HE)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;^[y]
    ^(HF)yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
    nor seek him, for all this.

¹¹Ephraim is like a dove,
    ^(HG)silly and without sense,
    calling to ^(HH)Egypt, going to ^(HI)Assyria.
¹²As they go, ^(HJ)I will spread over them my net;
    I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
    ^(HK)I will discipline them ^(HL)according to the report made to their congregation.
¹³^(HM)Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
    Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
^(HN)I would redeem them,
    but ^(HO)they speak lies against me.

¹⁴^(HP)They do not cry to me from the heart,
    but ^(HQ)they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
    they rebel against me.
¹⁵Although ^(HR)I trained and strengthened their arms,
    yet they devise evil against me.
¹⁶They ^(HS)return, but not upward;^[z]
    they are ^(HT)like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
    because of ^(HU)the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision ^(HV)in the land of Egypt.

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

8 Set ^(HW)the trumpet to your lips!
    One ^(HX)like a vulture is over the house of the Lord,
because ^(HY)they have transgressed my covenant
    and rebelled against my law.
²To me they cry,
    ^(HZ)“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
³Israel has spurned the good;
    the enemy shall pursue him.

⁴^(IA)They made kings, ^(IB)but not through me.
    They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
    for their own destruction.
⁵^(IC)I have^[aa] spurned your calf, O Samaria.
    My anger burns against them.
^(ID)How long will they be incapable of innocence?
⁶For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
    it is not God.
^(IE)The calf of Samaria
    ^(IF)shall be broken to pieces.^[ab]

⁷For ^(IG)they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
    it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
    ^(IH)strangers would devour it.
⁸^(II)Israel is swallowed up;
    already they are among the nations
    as ^(IJ)a useless vessel.
⁹For ^(IK)they have gone up to Assyria,
    ^(IL)a wild donkey wandering alone;
    Ephraim has hired lovers.
¹⁰Though they hire allies among the nations,
    I will soon gather them up.
And ^(IM)the king and princes ^(IN)shall soon writhe
    because of the tribute.

¹¹Because Ephraim ^(IO)has multiplied altars for sinning,
    they have become to him altars for sinning.
¹²^(IP)Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
    they would be regarded as a strange thing.
¹³As for my sacrificial offerings,
    ^(IQ)they sacrifice meat and eat it,
    but the Lord does not accept them.
^(IR)Now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins;
    ^(IS)they shall return to Egypt.
¹⁴For ^(IT)Israel has forgotten ^(IU)his Maker
    and ^(IV)built palaces,
and ^(IW)Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
    so ^(IX)I will send a fire upon his cities,
    and it shall devour her strongholds.

The Lord Will Punish Israel

9 Rejoice not, O Israel!
    Exult not like the peoples;
^(IY)for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
    ^(IZ)You have loved a prostitute's wages
    on all threshing floors.
²^(JA)Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
    and ^(JB)the new wine shall fail them.
³They shall not remain in ^(JC)the land of the Lord,
    but ^(JD)Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
    and ^(JE)they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.

⁴^(JF)They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
    ^(JG)and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like ^(JH)mourners' bread to them;
    all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
    ^(JI)it shall not come to the house of the Lord.

⁵^(JJ)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
    and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
⁶For behold, they are going away from destruction;
    but ^(JK)Egypt shall gather them;
    Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess ^(JL)their precious things of silver;
    ^(JM)thorns shall be in their tents.

⁷^(JN)The days of punishment have come;
    the days of recompense have come;
    Israel shall know it.
^(JO)The prophet is a fool;
    the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
    and great hatred.
⁸The prophet is ^(JP)the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet ^(JQ)a fowler's snare is on all his ways,
    and hatred in the house of his God.
⁹^(JR)They have deeply corrupted themselves
    as ^(JS)in the days of Gibeah:
^(JT)he will remember their iniquity;
    he will punish their sins.

¹⁰Like grapes in the wilderness,
    ^(JU)I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
    in its first season,
    I saw your fathers.
But ^(JV)they came to Baal-peor
    and ^(JW)consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
    and ^(JX)became detestable like the thing they loved.
¹¹Ephraim's ^(JY)glory shall fly away like a bird—
    ^(JZ)no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
¹²^(KA)Even if they bring up children,
    I will bereave them till none is left.
^(KB)Woe to them
    when ^(KC)I depart from them!
¹³Ephraim, ^(KD)as I have seen, was like a young palm^[ac] planted in a meadow;
    but ^(KE)Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.^[ad]
¹⁴Give them, O Lord—
    what will you give?
Give them ^(KF)a miscarrying womb
    and dry breasts.

¹⁵Every evil of theirs is in ^(KG)Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
    all ^(KH)their princes are ^(KI)rebels.

¹⁶Ephraim is stricken;
    ^(KJ)their root is dried up;
    they shall bear no fruit.
Even ^(KK)though they give birth,
    ^(KL)I will put their beloved children to death.
¹⁷^(KM)My God will reject them
    because they have not listened to him;
    ^(KN)they shall be wanderers among the nations.

10 ^(KO)Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
    ^(KP)the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
    he improved his pillars.
²Their heart is false;
    now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord^[ae] will break down their altars
    and destroy their pillars.

³For now they will say:
    ^(KQ)“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
⁴They utter ^(KR)mere words;
    with empty^[af] oaths they make covenants;
so ^(KS)judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    ^(KT)in the furrows of the field.
⁵The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
    for ^(KU)the calf^[ag] of ^(KV)Beth-aven.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
    those who rejoiced over it and ^(KW)over its glory—
    for it has departed^[ah] from them.
⁶^(KX)The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
    as tribute to ^(KY)the great king.^[ai]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed ^(KZ)of his idol.^[aj]

⁷^(LA)Samaria's king shall perish
    like a twig on the face of the waters.
⁸The high places of ^(LB)Aven, ^(LC)the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
^(LD)Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
and ^(LE)they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

⁹From ^(LF)the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not the war against the unjust^[ak] overtake them in Gibeah?
¹⁰^(LG)When I please, ^(LH)I will discipline them,
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are bound up for ^(LI)their double iniquity.

¹¹Ephraim was a trained calf
    that ^(LJ)loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put ^(LK)Ephraim to the yoke;
    ^(LL)Judah must plow;
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
¹²^(LM)Sow for yourselves righteousness;
    reap steadfast love;
    ^(LN)break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
    that he may come and ^(LO)rain righteousness upon you.

¹³^(LP)You have plowed iniquity;
    you have reaped injustice;
    you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
    and in the multitude of your warriors,
¹⁴therefore ^(LQ)the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as ^(LR)Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
    ^(LS)mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
¹⁵Thus it shall be done to you, O ^(LT)Bethel,
    because of your great evil.
At dawn ^(LU)the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.

The Lord's Love for Israel

11 ^(LV)When Israel was a child, ^(LW)I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I ^(LX)called ^(LY)my son.
²^(LZ)The more they were called,
    the more they went away;
^(MA)they kept sacrificing to the Baals
    and burning offerings to idols.

³Yet it was ^(MB)I who taught Ephraim to walk;
    I took them up by their arms,
    but they did not know that ^(MC)I healed them.
⁴^(MD)I led them with cords of kindness,^[al]
    with the bands of love,
and ^(ME)I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
    and ^(MF)I bent down to them and fed them.

⁵^(MG)They shall not^[am] return to the land of Egypt,
    but ^(MH)Assyria shall be their king,
    ^(MI)because ^(MJ)they have refused to return to me.
⁶^(MK)The sword shall rage against their cities,
    consume the bars of their gates,
    and devour them ^(ML)because of their own counsels.
⁷My people are bent ^(MM)on turning away from me,
    and though ^(MN)they call out to the Most High,
    he shall not raise them up at all.

⁸How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
^(MO)How can I make you ^(MP)like Admah?
    How can I treat you ^(MQ)like Zeboiim?
^(MR)My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
⁹I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
^(MS)for I am God and not a man,
    ^(MT)the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.^[an]

¹⁰^(MU)They shall go after the Lord;
    ^(MV)he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
    his children shall come trembling ^(MW)from the west;
¹¹they shall come trembling like birds ^(MX)from Egypt,
    and ^(MY)like doves ^(MZ)from the land of Assyria,
    and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
¹²^[ao] Ephraim ^(NA)has surrounded me with lies,
    and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.
12 Ephraim feeds on the wind
    and pursues ^(NB)the east wind all day long;
they multiply ^(NC)falsehood and violence;
    ^(ND)they make a covenant with Assyria,
    and ^(NE)oil is carried to Egypt.

The Lord's Indictment of Israel and Judah

²^(NF)The Lord has an indictment against Judah
    and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
    he will repay him according to his deeds.
³^(NG)In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
    and in his manhood he strove with God.
⁴He strove with the angel and prevailed;
    he wept and sought his favor.
^(NH)He met God^[ap] at Bethel,
    and there God spoke with us—
⁵the Lord, the God of hosts,
    ^(NI)the Lord is his memorial name:
⁶“So you, ^(NJ)by the help of your God, return,
    ^(NK)hold fast to love and justice,
    and wait continually for your God.”

⁷A merchant, in whose hands are ^(NL)false balances,
    he loves ^(NM)to oppress.
⁸Ephraim has said, “Ah, but ^(NN)I am rich;
    I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors ^(NO)they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
⁹^(NP)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you ^(NQ)dwell in tents,
    as in the days of the appointed feast.

¹⁰^(NR)I spoke to the prophets;
    it was I who multiplied ^(NS)visions,
    and through the prophets gave parables.
¹¹^(NT)If there is iniquity in Gilead,
    they shall surely come to nothing:
^(NU)in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
    ^(NV)their altars also are like stone heaps
    ^(NW)on the furrows of the field.
¹²^(NX)Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
    there Israel ^(NY)served for a wife,
    and for a wife he guarded sheep.
¹³By ^(NZ)a prophet ^(OA)the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
    and by a prophet he was guarded.
¹⁴^(OB)Ephraim has given bitter provocation;
    so his Lord ^(OC)will leave his bloodguilt on him
    ^(OD)and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
    ^(OE)he was exalted in Israel,
    but he incurred guilt ^(OF)through Baal and died.
²And now they sin more and more,
    and ^(OG)make for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
    ^(OH)all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
    “Those who offer human sacrifice ^(OI)kiss calves!”
³Therefore they shall be ^(OJ)like the morning mist
    or ^(OK)like the dew that goes early away,
^(OL)like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
    or ^(OM)like smoke from a window.

⁴But ^(ON)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
^(OO)you know no God but me,
    and ^(OP)besides me there is no savior.
⁵^(OQ)It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
⁶^(OR)but when they had grazed,^[aq] they became full,
    ^(OS)they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    ^(OT)therefore they forgot me.
⁷So ^(OU)I am to them like a lion;
    ^(OV)like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
⁸I will fall upon them ^(OW)like a bear robbed of her cubs;
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    ^(OX)as a wild beast would rip them open.

⁹He destroys^[ar] you, O Israel,
    for you are against me, against ^(OY)your helper.
¹⁰^(OZ)Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
    Where are all your rulers—
those of whom ^(PA)you said,
    “Give me a king and princes”?
¹¹^(PB)I gave you a king in my anger,
    and ^(PC)I took him away in my wrath.

¹²The iniquity of Ephraim is ^(PD)bound up;
    his sin is ^(PE)kept in store.
¹³^(PF)The pangs of childbirth come for him,
    but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
    ^(PG)at the opening of the womb.

¹⁴^(PH)I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    ^(PI)I shall redeem them from Death.^[as]
^(PJ)O ^(PK)Death, where are your plagues?
    ^(PL)O ^(PM)Sheol, where is your sting?
    ^(PN)Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵Though ^(PO)he may flourish among his brothers,
    ^(PP)the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
    rising from the wilderness,
^(PQ)and his fountain shall dry up;
    his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ^(PR)his treasury
    of every precious thing.
¹⁶^[at] Samaria ^(PS)shall bear her guilt,
    because ^(PT)she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
    ^(PU)their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
    and their ^(PV)pregnant women ripped open.

A Plea to Return to the Lord

14 ^(PW)Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
    for ^(PX)you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
²Take with you words
    and return to the Lord;
say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
accept ^(PY)what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    ^(PZ)the vows^[au] of our lips.
³^(QA)Assyria shall not save us;
    ^(QB)we will not ride on horses;
and ^(QC)we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
^(QD)In you the orphan finds mercy.”

⁴I ^(QE)will heal their apostasy;
    ^(QF)I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
⁵^(QG)I will be like the dew to Israel;
    ^(QH)he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees ^(QI)of Lebanon;
⁶his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be ^(QJ)like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷They shall return and ^(QK)dwell beneath my^[av] shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸O ^(QL)Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.^[aw]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
^(QM)from me comes your fruit.

⁹^(QN)Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
    and ^(QO)the upright walk in them,
    ^(QP)but transgressors stumble in them.

Footnotes

Hosea 1:6 Hebrew Lo-ruhama, which means she has not received mercy
Hosea 1:9 Hebrew Lo-ammi, which means not my people
Hosea 1:9 Hebrew I am not yours
Hosea 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
Hosea 1:10 Or Sons
Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Hebrew
Hosea 2:1 Hebrew ammi, which means my people
Hosea 2:1 Hebrew ruhama, which means she has received mercy
Hosea 2:6 Hebrew your
Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble; compare Joshua 7:26
Hosea 2:18 Hebrew break
Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God will sow
Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ruhama
Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ammi
Hosea 3:2 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; a lethech was about 3 bushels or 110 liters
Hosea 4:4 Or for your people are like those who contend with the priest
Hosea 4:8 Or sin offering
Hosea 4:18 Hebrew shields
Hosea 4:19 Hebrew her
Hosea 5:5 Or in his presence
Hosea 5:8 Or after you
Hosea 5:11 Or to follow human precepts
Hosea 5:13 Or to King Jareb
Hosea 6:6 Septuagint mercy
Hosea 7:10 Or in his presence
Hosea 7:16 Or to the Most High
Hosea 8:5 Hebrew He has
Hosea 8:6 Or shall go up in flames
Hosea 9:13 Or like Tyre
Hosea 9:13 Hebrew to him who slaughters
Hosea 10:2 Hebrew He
Hosea 10:4 Or vain (see Exodus 20:7)
Hosea 10:5 Or calves
Hosea 10:5 Or has gone into exile
Hosea 10:6 Or to King Jareb
Hosea 10:6 Or counsel
Hosea 10:9 Hebrew the children of injustice
Hosea 11:4 Or humaneness; Hebrew man
Hosea 11:5 Or surely
Hosea 11:9 Or into the city
Hosea 11:12 Ch 12:1 in Hebrew
Hosea 12:4 Hebrew him
Hosea 13:6 Hebrew according to their pasture
Hosea 13:9 Or I will destroy
Hosea 13:14 Or Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death?
Hosea 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Hebrew
Hosea 14:2 Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit
Hosea 14:7 Hebrew his
Hosea 14:8 Hebrew him