Hosea 5-8
American Standard Version
5 Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, O house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king; for [a]unto you pertaineth the judgment; for ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor. 2 And the revolters are gone deep [b]in making slaughter; but I am a [c]rebuker of them all. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, O Ephraim, thou hast played the harlot, Israel is defiled. 4 [d]Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God; for the spirit of whoredom is [e]within them, and they know not Jehovah. 5 And the [f]pride of Israel doth testify 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with them. 6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them. 7 They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah; for they have [g]borne strange children: now shall [h]the new moon devour them with their [i]fields.
8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: sound an alarm at Beth-aven; [j]behind thee, O Benjamin. 9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. 10 The princes of Judah are like them that 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 [k]Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to [l]king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound. 14 For I will be unto 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 [m]acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me [n]earnestly.
6 Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he 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 unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.
4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your [o]goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth early away. 5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and [p]thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. 6 For I desire [q]goodness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings. 7 But they [r]like [s]Adam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me. 8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity; it is stained with blood. 9 [t]And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem; yea, they have committed lewdness. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: there whoredom is found in Ephraim, Israel is defiled. 11 Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for thee, when I [u]bring back the captivity of my people.
7 When I would heal Israel, then is the iniquity of Ephraim uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief entereth in, and the troop of robbers [v]ravageth without. 2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now have their own doings beset them about; they are before my face. 3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. 4 They are all adulterers; they are as an oven heated by the baker; he ceaseth to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough, until it be leavened. 5 On the day of our king the princes made [w]themselves sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with scoffers. 6 For they have [x]made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth 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 them that calleth unto me.
8 Ephraim, he mixeth himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned. 9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are [y]here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not. 10 And the [z]pride of Israel doth testify to his face: yet they have not returned unto Jehovah their God, nor sought him, for all this. 11 And Ephraim is like a silly dove, without [aa]understanding: they call unto 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, [ab]as their congregation hath heard. 13 Woe unto them! for they have wandered from me; destruction unto 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 unto 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 [ac]taught and strengthened their arms, yet do they devise mischief against me. 16 They return, but not to him that is on high; they are like a deceitful bow; their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
8 [ad]Set the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle he cometh against the house of Jehovah, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. 2 They shall cry unto me, My God, we Israel know thee. 3 Israel hath cast off that which is good: the enemy shall pursue him. 4 They have set up kings, but not by me; [ae]they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. 5 He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? 6 For from Israel is even this; 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: [af]he hath no standing grain; the blade shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up: now are they among the nations as a vessel wherein none delighteth. 9 For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired [ag]lovers. 10 Yea, though they hire among the nations, now will I gather them; and they [ah]begin to be diminished by reason of the burden of the king of princes.
11 Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been unto him for sinning. 12 I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law; but they are counted as a strange thing. 13 As for the sacrifices of mine offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; but Jehovah accepteth them not: now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins; they shall return to Egypt. 14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded [ai]palaces; and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the [aj]castles thereof.
Footnotes
- Hosea 5:1 Or, against you is the judgment
- Hosea 5:2 Or, in corruption
- Hosea 5:2 Hebrew rebuke.
- Hosea 5:4 Or, They will not frame their doings
- Hosea 5:4 Or, in the midst of
- Hosea 5:5 Or, excellency
- Hosea 5:7 Or, begotten
- Hosea 5:7 Or, a month
- Hosea 5:7 Hebrew portions.
- Hosea 5:8 Or, After thee, Benjamin!
- Hosea 5:12 Or, And I was
- Hosea 5:13 Or, a king that should contend
- Hosea 5:15 Or, have borne their guilt
- Hosea 5:15 Or, earnestly, saying
- Hosea 6:4 Or, kindness
- Hosea 6:5 Or, according to another reading, my
- Hosea 6:6 Or, kindness
- Hosea 6:7 Or, are as men that have transgressed a covenant
- Hosea 6:7 Or, men
- Hosea 6:9 Or, And as robbers lying in wait, so etc.
- Hosea 6:11 Or, return to
- Hosea 7:1 Or, maketh a raid
- Hosea 7:5 Or, him
- Hosea 7:6 Hebrew brought near.
- Hosea 7:9 Hebrew sprinkled.
- Hosea 7:10 Or, excellency
- Hosea 7:11 Hebrew heart.
- Hosea 7:12 Or, when the report cometh to their congregation
- Hosea 7:15 Or, chastened them
- Hosea 8:1 Or, The trumpet to thy mouth! As an eagle against the house of Jehovah!
- Hosea 8:4 Or, they have removed them
- Hosea 8:7 Or, it hath no stalk
- Hosea 8:9 Hebrew loves.
- Hosea 8:10 Or, as otherwise read, shall sorrow a little (or for a little while)
- Hosea 8:14 Or, temples
- Hosea 8:14 Or, palaces
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