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Hosea 1-7
GOD’S WORD Translation
Hosea 1-7
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Prophet Hosea
1 The Lord spoke his word to Hosea, son of Beeri, when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah and when Jeroboam, son of Joash, was king of Israel.
Hosea Marries a Prostitute
2 When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, the Lord told him, “Marry a prostitute and have children with that prostitute. The people in this land have acted like prostitutes and abandoned the Lord.” 3 So Hosea married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim. She became pregnant and had a son.
4 The Lord told Hosea, “Name him Jezreel. In a little while I will punish Jehu’s family for the people they slaughtered at Jezreel. Then I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 On that day I will break Israel’s bows and arrows in the valley of Jezreel.”
6 Gomer became pregnant again and had a daughter. The Lord told Hosea, “Name her Lo Ruhamah [Unloved]. I will no longer love the nation of Israel. I will no longer forgive them. 7 Yet, I will love the descendants of Judah. I will rescue them because I am the Lord their God. I won’t use bows, swords, wars, horses, or horsemen to rescue them.”
8 After Gomer had weaned Lo Ruhamah, she became pregnant again and had a son. 9 The Lord said, “Name him Lo Ammi [Not My People]. You are no longer my people, and I am no longer your God.[a][b]
10 “Yet, the Israelites will become as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one will be able to measure them or count them. Wherever they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be told, ‘You are the children of the living God.’ 11 The people of Judah and Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint one leader for themselves, and they will grow in the land. The day of Jezreel will be a great day.
Israel Is the Lord’s Unfaithful Wife
2 [c]“So call your brothers Ammi [My People],
and call your sisters Ruhamah [Loved].
2 “Plead with your mother; plead with her.
She no longer acts like my wife.
She no longer treats me like her husband.
Tell her to stop acting like a prostitute.
Tell her to remove the lovers from between her breasts.
3 If she refuses, I will strip her.
I will leave her as naked as the day she was born.
I will turn her into a dry and barren land,
and she will die of thirst.
4 I won’t love her children,
because they are children of a prostitute.
5 Their mother acted like a prostitute.
The woman who became pregnant with them did shameful things.
She said, ‘I’ll chase after my lovers.
They will give me food and water,
wool and linen, olive oil and wine.’
6 “That is why I will block her way with thornbushes
and build a wall so that she can’t get through.
7 She will run after her lovers, but she won’t catch them.
She will search for them, but she won’t find them.
Then she will say, ‘I’ll go back to my first husband.
Things were better for me than they are now.’
8 “She doesn’t believe that I gave her grain, new wine, and olive oil.
I gave her plenty of silver and gold,
but she used it to make statues of Baal.
9 That is why I will take back my grain when it has ripened
and my new wine when it’s in season.
I will take away the wool and the linen
that I gave her to cover her naked body.
10 I will show her naked body to her lovers,
and no one will rescue her from my power.
11 I will put an end to all her celebrations:
her annual festivals, her New Moon Festivals,
her weekly worship days—all her appointed festivals.
12 I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees.
She said that they were gifts from her lovers.
I will turn her vineyards into a forest, and wild animals will devour them.
13 I will punish her for all the times she burned incense
as an offering to other gods—the Baals.
She put on her rings and jewelry,
and she chased after her lovers.
She forgot me,” declares the Lord.
The Lord Continues to Love Israel
14 “That is why I’m going to win her back.
I will lead her into the desert.
I will speak tenderly to her.
15 I will give her vineyards there.
I will make the valley of Achor [Disaster] a door of hope.
Then she will respond as she did when she was young,
as she did when she came out of Egypt.
16 “On that day she will call me her husband,” declares the Lord.
“She will no longer call me her master.[d]
17 I won’t allow her to say the names of other gods called Baal.
She will never again call out their names.
18 “On that day I will make an arrangement with the wild animals,
the birds, and the animals that crawl on the ground.
I will destroy all the bows, swords, and weapons of war,
so people can live safely.
19 “Israel, I will make you my wife forever.
I will be honest and faithful to you.
I will show you my love and compassion.
20 I will be true to you, my wife.
Then you will know the Lord.
21 “On that day I will answer your ⌞prayers⌟,” declares the Lord.
“I will speak to the sky,
it will speak to the earth,
22 and the earth will produce grain, new wine, and olive oil.
You will produce many crops, Jezreel.
23 I will plant my people in the land.
Those who are not loved I will call my loved ones.
Those who are not my people I will call my people.
Then they will say, ‘You are our God!’ ”
Hosea’s Adulterous Wife
3 Then the Lord told me, “Love your wife again, even though she is loved by others and has committed adultery. Love her as I, the Lord, love the Israelites, even though they have turned to other gods and love to eat raisin cakes.”
2 So I bought her for 23 ounces of silver and 10 bushels of barley. 3 Then I told her, “You must wait for me a long time. Don’t be a prostitute or offer yourself to any man. I will wait for you.”
4 In the same way, the Israelites will wait a long time without kings or officials, without sacrifices or sacred stones, and without ephods [e] or family idols. 5 After that, the Israelites will turn and look to the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord for his blessings in the last days.
The Lord’s Legal Case against Israel
4 Listen to the Lord’s word, you Israelites. The Lord has brought these charges against those who live in the land:
“There is no faith, no love, and no knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is cursing, lying, murdering, stealing, and adultery.
People break ⌞my laws⌟, and there is one murder after another.
3 That is why the land is drying up,
and everyone who lives in it is passing away.
Wild animals, birds, and fish are dying.
4 “No one should accuse other people or bring charges against them.
My case is against you priests.
5 During the day you stumble,
and during the night the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother, ⌞the nation of Israel⌟.
6 I will destroy my people because they are ignorant.
You have refused to learn,
so I will refuse to let you be my priests.
You have forgotten the teachings of your God,
so I will forget your children.
7 The more priests there are,
the more they sin against me.
So I will turn their glory into shame.
8 They feed on the sins of my people,
and they want them to do wicked things.
9 So the priests will be punished like the people.
I will punish them for their wicked ways
and pay them back for what they have done.
10 “They will eat, but they’ll never be full.
They will have sex with prostitutes, but they’ll never have children.
They have abandoned the Lord.
11 Prostitutes, old wine, and new wine have robbed them of their senses.
12 My people ask their wooden idols for help.
A piece of wood tells them what to do.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray.
They commit adultery
by giving themselves to other gods.
13 They offer sacrifices on mountaintops,
and they burn incense on the hills
under oaks, poplars, and other trees.
They think that these trees provide good shade.
“That is why your daughters become prostitutes,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 Yet, I will not punish your daughters when they become prostitutes
or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery.
The men go to prostitutes
and offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes.
These foolish people will be trampled.
15 “Israel, you act like a prostitute.
Don’t let Judah become guilty too.
Don’t go to Gilgal.
Don’t go to Beth Aven.
Don’t take the oath, ‘As the Lord lives. …’
16 “The people of Israel are as stubborn as a bull.
How can the Lord feed them like lambs in an open pasture?
17 The people of Ephraim have chosen to worship idols. Leave them alone!
18 When they’re done drinking their wine,
they continue to have sex with the prostitutes.
Their rulers dearly love to act shamefully.
19 The wind will carry them away in its wings,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.
The Lord Announces the Verdict against Israel
5 “Listen to this, you priests!
Pay attention, nation of Israel!
Open your ears, royal family!
This is my decision about you.
You set traps at Mizpah
and spread out nets on Mount Tabor.
2 You are deeply involved in sin.
So I will punish all of you.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel isn’t a stranger to me.
Now, Ephraim, you are acting like a prostitute,
and Israel is unclean.[f]
4 “The wicked things that the people have done
keep them from returning to their God.
They have a spirit of prostitution,
and they don’t know the Lord.
5 The people of Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.
Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their sins,
and Judah stumbles with them.
6 They go with their sheep and their cattle to search for the Lord,
but they can’t find him.
He has left them.
7 They have been unfaithful to the Lord,
because their children do not belong to him.
Now their New Moon ⌞Festivals⌟ will devour them and their fields.
8 “Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah.
Blow the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth Aven, you descendants of Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will become a wasteland
when the time for punishment comes.
I will make the truth known among the tribes of Israel.
10 The leaders of Judah are like those who move boundary markers.
I will pour my fury on them like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed—crushed by punishment,
because its people are determined to chase idols.[g]
12 I will destroy Ephraim as a moth destroys clothing.
I will destroy the nation of Judah as rot destroys wood.
13 “When Ephraim saw that he was sick
and when Judah saw his own wounds,
Ephraim went to Assyria to ask the great king for help.[h]
But the king couldn’t cure them or heal their wounds.
14 I will be like a lion to Ephraim
and like a young lion to the nation of Judah.
I will carry ⌞them⌟ off, and no one will rescue ⌞them⌟.
15 I will go back to my place until they admit that they are guilty.
Then they will search for me.
In their distress they will eagerly look for me.”
Israel Rejected the Lord’s Promise
6 Let’s return to the Lord.
Even though he has torn us to pieces,
he will heal us.
Even though he has wounded us,
he will bandage our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us.
On the third day he will raise us
so that we may live in his presence.
3 Let’s learn about the Lord.
Let’s get to know the Lord.
He will come to us as sure as the morning comes.
He will come to us like the autumn rains and the spring rains
that water the ground.
4 “What should I do with you, Ephraim?
What should I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like fog in the morning.
It disappears as quickly as the morning dew.
5 That is why I cut ⌞you⌟ down by sending the prophets.
I killed you with the words from my mouth.
My judgments shined on you like light.
6 I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices.
I want you to know me, not to give me burnt offerings.
7 “Like Adam, you rejected the promise.[i]
You were unfaithful to me.
8 Gilead is a city filled with troublemakers.
It is stained with bloody footprints.
9 The priests are like gangs of robbers who lie in ambush for a person.
They murder on the road to Shechem.
Certainly, they have committed a crime.
10 “I have seen horrible things in the nation of Israel.
Ephraim is acting like a prostitute,
and Israel is unclean.[j]
11 “Yet, Judah, I have set a harvest time for you
when I bring my people back from captivity.
7 “Whenever I want to heal Israel,
all I can see is Ephraim’s sin and Samaria’s wickedness.
People cheat each other.
They break into houses and steal.
They rob people in the streets.
2 They don’t realize that I remember
all the evil things they’ve done.
Now their sins surround them.
Their sins are in my presence.
3 “They make kings happy with the wicked things they do.
They make officials happy with the lies they tell.
4 They all commit adultery.
They are like a heated oven,
an oven so hot that a baker doesn’t have to fan its flames
when he makes bread.
5 On the day of the king’s celebration,
the officials become drunk from wine,
and the king joins mockers.
6 They become hot like an oven while they lie in ambush.
All night long their anger smolders,
but in the morning it burns like a raging fire.
7 They are all as hot as an oven.
They consume their judges ⌞like a fire⌟.
All their kings die in battle, and none of them calls to me.
Israel Turns to Other Nations for Help
8 “Ephraim mixes with other nations.
Ephraim, you are like a half-baked loaf of bread.
9 Foreigners are using up your strength, but you don’t realize it.
You have become a gray-haired, old man, but you don’t realize it.
10 Israel, your arrogance testifies against you,
but even after all this, you don’t turn to the Lord your God
or look to him for help.
11 Ephraim, you are like a silly, senseless dove.
You call for Egypt and run to Assyria for help.
12 When you go, I will spread my net over you.
I will snatch you out of the air like a bird.
I will punish you for all the evil things you have done.
13 “How horrible it will be for these people.
They have run away from me.
They must be destroyed because they’ve rebelled against me.
I want to reclaim them, but they tell lies about me.
14 They don’t pray to me sincerely,
even though they cry in their beds
and make cuts on their bodies
while praying for grain and new wine.
They have turned against me.
15 I trained them and made them strong.
Yet, they plan evil against me.
16 They don’t return to the Most High.
They are like a defective bow.
Their officials will die in battle
because they curse.
The people in Egypt will ridicule them for this.
Footnotes
- 1:9 Or “I am no longer I Am to you.” (See Exodus 3:14.)
- 1:9 Hosea 1:10–11 in English Bibles is Hosea 2:1–2 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 2:1 Hosea 2:1–23 in English Bibles is Hosea 2:3–25 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 2:16 Or “her Baal.”
- 3:4 Ephod is a technical term for part of the priest’s clothes. Its exact usage and shape are unknown.
- 5:3 “Unclean ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God.
- 5:11 Greek, Syriac, Targum; Masoretic Text “to chase commands.”
- 5:13 Or “to ask King Jareb for help.”
- 6:7 Or “You have walked all over my promise as if it were dirt.”
- 6:10 “Unclean ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God.
Hosea 1-7
New International Version
Hosea 1-7
New International Version
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah,(B) Jotham,(C) Ahaz(D) and Hezekiah,(E) kings of Judah,(F) and during the reign of Jeroboam(G) son of Jehoash[a] king of Israel:(H)
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous(I) woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness(J) to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer(K) daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel,(L) because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.(M)”
6 Gomer(N) conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”),(O) for I will no longer show love to Israel,(P) that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow,(Q) sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God,(R) will save them.”
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah,(S) Gomer had another son. 9 Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.[b](T)
10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted.(U) In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’(V) 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together;(W) they will appoint one leader(X) and will come up out of the land,(Y) for great will be the day of Jezreel.[c](Z)
2 [d]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’(AA)
Israel Punished and Restored
2 “Rebuke your mother,(AB) rebuke her,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous(AC) look from her face
and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
3 Otherwise I will strip(AD) her naked
and make her as bare as on the day she was born;(AE)
I will make her like a desert,(AF)
turn her into a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
4 I will not show my love to her children,(AG)
because they are the children of adultery.(AH)
5 Their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(AI)
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(AJ)
6 Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.(AK)
7 She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.(AL)
Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husband(AM) as at first,(AN)
for then I was better off(AO) than now.’
8 She has not acknowledged(AP) that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,(AQ)
who lavished on her the silver and gold(AR)—
which they used for Baal.(AS)
9 “Therefore I will take away my grain(AT) when it ripens,
and my new wine(AU) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
intended to cover her naked body.
10 So now I will expose(AV) her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers;(AW)
no one will take her out of my hands.(AX)
11 I will stop(AY) all her celebrations:(AZ)
her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.(BA)
12 I will ruin her vines(BB) and her fig trees,(BC)
which she said were her pay from her lovers;(BD)
I will make them a thicket,(BE)
and wild animals will devour them.(BF)
13 I will punish her for the days
she burned incense(BG) to the Baals;(BH)
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,(BI)
and went after her lovers,(BJ)
but me she forgot,(BK)”
declares the Lord.(BL)
14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness(BM)
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor[e](BN) a door of hope.
There she will respond[f](BO) as in the days of her youth,(BP)
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(BQ)
16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;(BR)
you will no longer call me ‘my master.[g]’
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(BS)
no longer will their names be invoked.(BT)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the creatures that move along the ground.(BU)
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolish(BV) from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.(BW)
19 I will betroth(BX) you to me forever;
I will betroth you in[h] righteousness and justice,(BY)
in[i] love and compassion.(BZ)
20 I will betroth you in[j] faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge(CA) the Lord.(CB)
21 “In that day I will respond,”
declares the Lord—
“I will respond(CC) to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
the new wine and the olive oil,(CD)
and they will respond to Jezreel.[k](CE)
23 I will plant(CF) her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[l](CG)’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[m]’ ‘You are my people’;(CH)
and they will say, ‘You are my God.(CI)’”
Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife
3 The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.(CJ) Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.(CK)”
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels[n] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[o] of barley. 3 Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”
4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince,(CL) without sacrifice(CM) or sacred stones,(CN) without ephod(CO) or household gods.(CP) 5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek(CQ) the Lord their God and David their king.(CR) They will come trembling(CS) to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.(CT)
The Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge(CU) to bring
against you who live in the land:(CV)
“There is no faithfulness,(CW) no love,
no acknowledgment(CX) of God in the land.(CY)
2 There is only cursing,[p] lying(CZ) and murder,(DA)
stealing(DB) and adultery;(DC)
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.(DD)
3 Because of this the land dries up,(DE)
and all who live in it waste away;(DF)
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.(DG)
4 “But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.(DH)
5 You stumble(DI) day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother(DJ)—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(DK)
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(DL) of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God[q](DM) for something disgraceful.(DN)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.(DO)
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.(DP)
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.(DQ)
10 “They will eat but not have enough;(DR)
they will engage in prostitution(DS) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(DT) the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(DU)
old wine(DV) and new wine
take away their understanding.(DW)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,(DX)
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.(DY)
A spirit of prostitution(DZ) leads them astray;(EA)
they are unfaithful(EB) to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,(EC) poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.(ED)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution(EE)
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.(EF)
14 “I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots(EG)
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(EH)—
a people without understanding(EI) will come to ruin!(EJ)
15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;(EK)
do not go up to Beth Aven.[r](EL)
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’(EM)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,(EN)
like a stubborn heifer.(EO)
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs(EP) in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind(EQ) will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.(ER)
Judgment Against Israel
5 “Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
This judgment(ES) is against you:
You have been a snare(ET) at Mizpah,
a net(EU) spread out on Tabor.
2 The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.(EV)
I will discipline all of them.(EW)
3 I know all about Ephraim;
Israel is not hidden(EX) from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
Israel is corrupt.(EY)
4 “Their deeds do not permit them
to return(EZ) to their God.
A spirit of prostitution(FA) is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge(FB) the Lord.
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies(FC) against them;
the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble(FD) in their sin;
Judah also stumbles with them.(FE)
6 When they go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord,(FF)
they will not find him;
he has withdrawn(FG) himself from them.
7 They are unfaithful(FH) to the Lord;
they give birth to illegitimate(FI) children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,(FJ)
he will devour[s](FK) their fields.
8 “Sound the trumpet(FL) in Gibeah,(FM)
the horn in Ramah.(FN)
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven[t];(FO)
lead on, Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will be laid waste(FP)
on the day of reckoning.(FQ)
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.(FR)
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.(FS)
I will pour out my wrath(FT) on them
like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
intent on pursuing idols.[u](FU)
12 I am like a moth(FV) to Ephraim,
like rot(FW) to the people of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim(FX) saw his sickness,
and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,(FY)
and sent to the great king for help.(FZ)
But he is not able to cure(GA) you,
not able to heal your sores.(GB)
14 For I will be like a lion(GC) to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces(GD) and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.(GE)
15 Then I will return to my lair(GF)
until they have borne their guilt(GG)
and seek my face(GH)—
in their misery(GI)
they will earnestly seek me.(GJ)”
Israel Unrepentant
6 “Come, let us return(GK) to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces(GL)
but he will heal us;(GM)
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.(GN)
2 After two days he will revive us;(GO)
on the third day(GP) he will restore(GQ) us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,(GR)
like the spring rains that water the earth.(GS)”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?(GT)
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.(GU)
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth(GV)—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[v](GW)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(GX)
and acknowledgment(GY) of God rather than burnt offerings.(GZ)
7 As at Adam,[w] they have broken the covenant;(HA)
they were unfaithful(HB) to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,(HC)
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,(HD)
so do bands of priests;
they murder(HE) on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.(HF)
10 I have seen a horrible(HG) thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.(HH)
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest(HI) is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes(HJ) of my people,
7 1 whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(HK)
They practice deceit,(HL)
thieves break into houses,(HM)
bandits rob in the streets;(HN)
2 but they do not realize
that I remember(HO) all their evil deeds.(HP)
Their sins engulf them;(HQ)
they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.(HR)
4 They are all adulterers,(HS)
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,(HT)
and he joins hands with the mockers.(HU)
6 Their hearts are like an oven;(HV)
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(HW)
and none of them calls(HX) on me.
8 “Ephraim mixes(HY) with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,(HZ)
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(IA)
but despite all this
he does not return(IB) to the Lord his God
or search(IC) for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(ID)
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(IE)
now turning to Assyria.(IF)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(IG) over them;
I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
13 Woe(IH) to them,
because they have strayed(II) from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me(IJ) falsely.(IK)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(IL)
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[x] appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,(IM)
but they turn away from me.(IN)
15 I trained(IO) them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil(IP) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(IQ)
they are like a faulty bow.(IR)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent(IS) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(IT)
in the land of Egypt.(IU)
Footnotes
- Hosea 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash
- Hosea 1:9 Or your I am
- Hosea 1:11 In Hebrew texts 1:10,11 is numbered 2:1,2.
- Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.
- Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
- Hosea 2:15 Or sing
- Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
- Hosea 2:19 Or with
- Hosea 2:19 Or with
- Hosea 2:20 Or with
- Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)
- Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
- Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.
- Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on
- Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory
- Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 5:7 Or Now their New Moon feasts / will devour them and
- Hosea 5:8 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings
- Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
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