1 A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Hosea, son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel:

² The commencement of Jehovah's speaking by Hosea. And Jehovah saith unto Hosea, `Go, take to thee a woman of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms, for utterly go a-whoring doth the land from after Jehovah.'

³ And he goeth and taketh Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceiveth and beareth to him a son;

⁴ and Jehovah saith unto him, `Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little, and I have charged the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and have caused to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel;

⁵ and it hath come to pass in that day that I have broken the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.'

⁶ And she conceiveth again, and beareth a daughter, and He saith to him, `Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I add no more to pity the house of Israel, for I do utterly take them away;

⁷ and the house of Judah I pity, and have saved them by Jehovah their God, and do not save them by bow, and by sword, and by battle, by horses, and by horsemen.'

⁸ And she weaneth Lo-Ruhamah, and conceiveth, and beareth a son;

⁹ and He saith, `Call his name Lo-Ammi, for ye [are] not My people, and I am not for you;

¹⁰ and the number of the sons of Israel hath been as the sand of the sea, that is not measured nor numbered, and it hath come to pass in the place where it is said to them, Ye [are] not My people, it is said to them, Sons of the Living God;

¹¹ and gathered have been the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel together, and they have appointed to themselves one head, and have gone up from the land, for great [is] the day of Jezreel.

2 `Say ye to your brethren -- Ammi, And to your sisters -- Ruhamah.

² Plead ye with your mother -- plead, (For she [is] not My wife, and I [am] not her husband,) And she turneth her whoredoms from before her, And her adulteries from between her breasts,

³ Lest I strip her naked. And have set her up as [in] the day of her birth, And have made her as a wilderness, And have set her as a dry land, And have put her to death with thirst.

⁴ And her sons I do not pity, For sons of whoredoms [are] they,

⁵ For gone a-whoring hath their mother, Acted shamefully hath their conceiver, For she hath said, I go after my lovers, Those giving my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.

⁶ Therefore, lo, I am hedging up thy way with thorns, And I have made for her a wall, And her paths she doth not find.

⁷ And she hath pursued her lovers, And she doth not overtake them, And hath sought them, and doth not find, And she hath said: I go, and I turn back unto My first husband, For -- better to me then than now.

⁸ And she knew not that I had given to her, The corn, and the new wine, and the oil. Yea, silver I did multiply to her, And the gold they prepared for Baal.

⁹ Therefore do I turn back, And I have taken My corn in its season, And My new wine in its appointed time, And I have taken away My wool and My flax, covering her nakedness.

¹⁰ And now do I reveal her dishonour before the eyes of her lovers, And none doth deliver her out of My hand.

¹¹ And I have caused to cease all her joy, Her festival, her new moon, and her sabbath, Even all her appointed times,

¹² And made desolate her vine and her fig-tree, Of which she said, A gift they [are] to me, That my lovers have given to me, And I have made them for a forest, And consumed them hath a beast of the field.

¹³ And I have charged on her the days of the Baalim, To whom she maketh perfume, And putteth on her ring and her ornament, And goeth after her lovers, And Me forgat -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

¹⁴ Therefore, lo, I am enticing her, And have caused her to go to the wilderness, And I have spoken unto her heart,

¹⁵ And given to her her vineyards from thence, And the valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she hath responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ And it hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah, Thou dost call Me -- My husband, And dost not call Me any more -- My lord.

¹⁷ And I have turned aside the names of the lords from her mouth, And they are not remembered any more by their name.

¹⁸ And I have made to them a covenant in that day, with the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the creeping thing of the ground, And bow, and sword, and war I break from off the land, And have caused them to lie down confidently.

¹⁹ And I have betrothed thee to Me to the age, And betrothed thee to Me in righteousness, And in judgment, and kindness, and mercies,

²⁰ And betrothed thee to Me in faithfulness, And thou hast known Jehovah.

²¹ And it hath come to pass in that day, I answer -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I answer the heavens, and they answer the earth.

²² And the earth doth answer the corn, And the new wine, and the oil, And they answer Jezreel.

²³ And I have sowed her to Me in the land, And I have pitied Lo-Ruhamah, And I have said to Lo-Ammi, My people thou [art], and it saith, My God!'

3 And Jehovah saith unto me: `Again, go, love a woman, loved of a friend, and an adulteress, like the loved of Jehovah, the sons of Israel, and they are turning unto other gods, and are lovers of grape-cakes.'

² And I buy her to me for fifteen silverlings, and a homer and a letech of barley;

³ and I say unto her, `Many days thou dost remain for Me, thou dost not go a-whoring, nor become any one's; and I also [am] for thee.'

⁴ For many days remain do the sons of Israel without a king, and there is no prince, and there is no sacrifice, and there is no standing pillar, and there is no ephod and teraphim.

⁵ Afterwards turned back have the sons of Israel, and sought Jehovah their God, and David their king, and have hastened unto Jehovah, and unto His goodness, in the latter end of the days.

4 `Hear a word of Jehovah, sons of Israel, For a strife [is] to Jehovah with inhabitants of the land, For there is no truth, nor kindness, Nor knowledge of God, in the land,

² Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery -- have increased, And blood against blood hath touched.

³ Therefore mourn doth the land, And weak is every dweller in it, With the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the fishes of the sea -- they are removed.

⁴ Only, let no one strive, nor reprove a man, And thy people [are] as those striving with a priest.

⁵ And thou hast stumbled in the day, And stumbled hath also a prophet with thee in the night, And I have cut off thy mother.

⁶ Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also!

⁷ According to their abundance so they sinned against Me, Their honour into shame I change.

⁸ The sin of My people they do eat, And unto their iniquity lift up their soul.

⁹ And it hath been, like people, like priest, And I have charged on it its ways, And its habitual doings I return to it.

¹⁰ And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

¹¹ Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, take the heart,

¹² My people at its staff asketh and its rod declareth to it, For a spirit of whoredoms hath caused to err, And they go a-whoring from under their God.

¹³ On tops of the mountains they do sacrifice, And on the hills they make perfume, Under oak, and poplar, and terebinth, For good [is] its shade.

¹⁴ Therefore commit whoredom do your daughters, And your spouses commit adultery, I do not see after your daughters when they commit whoredom, And after your spouses when they commit adultery, For they with the harlots are separated, And with the whores they do sacrifice, A people that doth not understand kicketh.

¹⁵ Though a harlot thou [art], O Israel, Let not Judah become guilty, And come not ye in to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-Aven, Nor swear ye, Jehovah liveth.

¹⁶ For as a refractory heifer hath Israel turned aside, Now doth Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.

¹⁷ Joined to idols [is] Ephraim, let him alone.

¹⁸ Sour [is] their drink, They have gone diligently a-whoring, Her protectors have loved shame thoroughly.

¹⁹ Distressed her hath wind with its wings, And they are ashamed of their sacrifices!

5 `Hear this, O priests, and attend, O house of Israel, And, O house of the king, give ear, For the judgment [is] for you, For, a snare ye have been on Mizpah, And a net spread out on Tabor.

² And to slaughter sinners have gone deep, And I [am] a fetter to them all.

³ I have known Ephraim, And Israel hath not been hid from me, For now thou hast gone a-whoring, Ephraim, Defiled is Israel.

⁴ They give not up their habitual doings, To turn back unto their God, For a spirit of whoredoms [is] in their midst, And Jehovah they have not known.

⁵ And humbled hath been the excellency of Israel to his face, And Israel and Ephraim stumble by their iniquity, Stumbled also hath Judah with them.

⁶ With their flock and with their herd, They go to seek Jehovah, and do not find, He hath withdrawn from them.

⁷ Against Jehovah they dealt treacherously, For strange sons they have begotten, Now consume them doth a month [with] their portions.

⁸ Blow ye a cornet in Gibeah, a trumpet in Ramah, Shout, O Beth-Aven, after thee, O Benjamin.

⁹ Ephraim is for a desolation in a day of reproof, Among the tribes of Israel I have made known a sure thing.

¹⁰ Princes of Judah have been as those removing a border, On them I do pour out as water My wrath.

¹¹ Oppressed is Ephraim, broken in judgment, When he pleased he went after the command.

¹² And I [am] as a moth to Ephraim, And as a rotten thing to the house of Judah.

¹³ And see doth Ephraim his sickness, and Judah his wound, And Ephraim goeth unto Asshur, And sendeth unto a warlike king, And he is not able to give healing to you, Nor doth he remove from you a scar.

¹⁴ For I [am] as a lion to Ephraim, And as a young lion to the house of Judah, I -- I tear and go, I bear away, and there is no deliverer.

¹⁵ I go -- I turn back unto My place, Till that they are desolate, and have sought My face. In their distress they do seek Me speedily!'

6 `Come, and we turn back unto Jehovah, For He hath torn, and He doth heal us, He doth smite, and He bindeth us up.

² He doth revive us after two days, In the third day He doth raise us up, And we live before Him.

³ And we know -- we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain -- sprinkling earth.'

⁴ What do I do to thee, O Ephraim? What do I do to thee, O Judah? Your goodness [is] as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early -- going.

⁵ Therefore I have hewed by prophets, I have slain them by sayings of My mouth, And My judgments to the light goeth forth.

⁶ For kindness I desired, and not sacrifice, And a knowledge of God above burnt-offerings.

⁷ And they, as Adam, transgressed a covenant, There they dealt treacherously against me.

⁸ Gilead [is] a city of workers of iniquity, Slippery from blood.

⁹ And as bands do wait for a man, A company of priests do murder -- the way to Shechem, For wickedness they have done.

¹⁰ In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing, There [is] the whoredom of Ephraim -- defiled is Israel.

¹¹ Also, O Judah, appointed is a harvest to thee, In My turning back [to] the captivity of My people!

7 `When I give healing to Israel, Then revealed is the iniquity of Ephraim, And the wickedness of Samaria, For they have wrought falsehood, And a thief doth come in, Stript off hath a troop in the street,

² And they do not say to their heart, [That] all their evil I have remembered, Now compassed them have their doings, Over-against My face they have been.

³ With their wickedness they make glad a king, And with their lies -- princes.

⁴ All of them [are] adulterers, Like a burning oven of a baker, He ceaseth from stirring up after kneading the dough, till its leavening.

⁵ A day of our king! Princes have polluted themselves [with] the poison of wine, He hath drawn out his hand with scorners.

⁶ For they have drawn near, As an oven [is] their heart, In their lying in wait all the night sleep doth their baker, Morning! he is burning as a flaming fire.

⁷ All of them are warm as an oven, And they have devoured their judges, All their kings have fallen, There is none calling unto Me among them.

⁸ Ephraim! among peoples he mixeth himself, Ephraim hath been a cake unturned.

⁹ Devoured have strangers his power, And he hath not known, Also old age hath sprinkled [itself] on him, And he hath not known.

¹⁰ And humbled hath been the excellency of Israel to his face, And they have not turned back unto Jehovah their God, Nor have they sought Him for all this.

¹¹ And Ephraim is as a simple dove without heart, Egypt they called on -- [to] Asshur they have gone.

¹² When they go I spread over them My net, As the fowl of the heavens I bring them down, I chastise them as their company hath heard.

¹³ Wo to them, for they wandered from Me, Destruction to them, for they transgressed against Me, And I -- I ransom them, and they have spoken lies against Me,

¹⁴ And have not cried unto Me with their heart, but howl on their beds, For corn and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn aside against Me.

¹⁵ And I instructed -- I strengthened their arms, And concerning Me they think evil!

¹⁶ They turn back -- not to the Most High, They have been as a deceitful bow, Fall by sword do their princes, From the insolence of their tongue, This [is] their derision in the land of Egypt!