Israel Worships False Gods

8 “Put the horn to your lips! Men who hate us are coming like an eagle to fight against the house of the Lord, because the people of Israel have sinned against My agreement and would not obey My Law. ² They cry out to Me, ‘My God, we of Israel know You!’ ³ Israel has turned away from the good, and those who hate him will come after him. ⁴ They have set up kings, but not by Me. They have chosen leaders, but I did not know it. They have made false gods for themselves out of silver and gold, so they will be destroyed. ⁵ O Samaria, I will have nothing to do with the calf you worship. My anger burns against them! How long will it be before they are pure ⁶ in Israel? A workman made this calf, so it is not God. The calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces. ⁷ They plant the wind and they will gather the storm. The standing grain has no heads, and will give no food. If it were to give food, strangers would eat it.

⁸ “Israel is eaten up. They are now among the nations like a pot that is of no worth. ⁹ They have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey all alone. Ephraim has hired lovers. ¹⁰ Even when they hire people among the nations to help them, I will now gather them together. And they will begin to waste away because the powerful king will make it hard for them.

¹¹ “Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin gifts, they have become altars for sinning. ¹² I wrote 10,000 of My Laws for him, but they think of them as something strange. ¹³ They give gifts to Me and eat the meat of the gifts, but the Lord is not pleased with them. Now He will remember their wrong-doing and punish them for their sins. They will return to Egypt. ¹⁴ Israel has forgotten his Maker and built great houses. And Judah has built many strong cities ready for battle. But I will send a fire upon its cities that will destroy its beautiful houses.”

Israel Is Judged for Its Sin

9 Do not be happy, O Israel! Do not be glad like the nations! For you have sinned like a woman who sells the use of her body, turning away from your God. You have loved selling yourselves on every grain-floor. ² The grain-floor and the place where the grapes are crushed will not feed them. And they will not have enough new wine. ³ They will not stay in the Lord’s land, but Ephraim will return to Egypt. And in Assyria they will eat unclean food. ⁴ They will not pour out drink gifts of wine to the Lord. Their gifts of worship will not please Him. Their bread will be like the bread of those in sorrow. Everyone who eats it will be unclean, for their bread will be for themselves alone. It will not come into the house of the Lord. ⁵ What will you do on the days set to have a special supper for the Lord? ⁶ When trouble comes and the people try to get away, Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Their riches of silver will be grown over by weeds, and thorns will be in their tents.

⁷ The days of punishment have come, the days when the people must pay for their sins. Let Israel know this. The man who tells what will happen in the future is a fool. The man who is led by the spirit is crazy. This is because of all your sin and anger. ⁸ Ephraim was meant to be a watchman who would speak for God. Yet there is a net in all his ways, and only anger in the house of his God. ⁹ They have gone deep into sin, as in the days of Gibeah. The Lord will remember their wrong-doing, and will punish their sins.

¹⁰ “I found Israel like grapes in the desert. I saw your fathers like the first-fruit on the fig tree in its first year. But they came to Baal-peor and gave themselves to that false god of shame. They became as sinful as the thing they loved. ¹¹ Ephraim’s greatness will fly away like a bird. There will be no more children born to them, and they will not be able to have children. ¹² Even if they raise children, I will take them away and not leave anyone alive. It will be bad for them when I leave them! ¹³ I have seen Ephraim planted in a good field like Tyre. But Ephraim will lead his children out to be killed.” ¹⁴ O Lord, what will You give them? Give them children who die before they are born, and make them not able to nurse their babies.

¹⁵ “Because of all their sin at Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of the sinful things they did, I will drive them out of My house. I will not love them any more. All their leaders would not obey Me. ¹⁶ Ephraim is destroyed. Their root is dried up and they will give no fruit. Even if they give birth, I will kill the children they love.” ¹⁷ My God will send them away because they have not listened to Him. And they will travel from nation to nation.

Israel’s Sin

10 Israel is a spreading vine full of fruit. The more fruit he had, the more altars he made. As his land became richer, he made his pillars for worship better. ² Their heart is not faithful, and now they must suffer for their sins. The Lord will break down their altars and destroy their pillars for worship.

³ Then they will say, “We have no king because we do not fear the Lord. And what could a king do for us?” ⁴ They speak empty words and make false promises, so punishment grows like weeds of poison in a plowed field. ⁵ The people of Samaria will be afraid for the calf of Beth-aven. Its people will have sorrow for it. Its religious leaders who worship false gods will cry over it in a loud voice. They will cry because its greatness has gone. ⁶ The thing itself will be carried to Assyria and given to King Jareb. Ephraim will be put to shame, and Israel will be ashamed of its false god. ⁷ Samaria and its king will be lost like a piece of wood on the water. ⁸ The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. Thorns and thistles will grow on their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹ “You have sinned since the days of Gibeah, O Israel, and there you have stayed. Will not the sinners be destroyed in battle in Gibeah? ¹⁰ I will punish them when I please. And the nations will be gathered against them when they are punished for their many sins.

¹¹ “Ephraim is a well-taught young cow that loves to crush the grain. But I will put a load on her beautiful neck. I will drive Ephraim. Judah must plow. And Jacob must break up the ground. ¹² Plant what is right and good for yourselves. Gather the fruit of lasting love. Break up your ground that has not been plowed. For it is time to look for the Lord, until He comes and pours His saving power on you. ¹³ You have plowed wrong-doing and have gathered sin. You have eaten the fruit of lies. You have trusted in your own strength and in your many soldiers. ¹⁴ The noise of battle will rise up among your people. All your strong cities will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle. Mothers were crushed in pieces with their children. ¹⁵ This will be done to you at Bethel because of your many sins. When the day begins, the king of Israel will be destroyed.

God’s Love for His Sinful People

11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him. And I called My son out of Egypt. ² The more I called them, the more they went from Me. They kept giving gifts in worship to the Baals and burning special perfume to false gods. ³ Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them in My arms. But they did not know that I healed them. ⁴ I led them with ropes of human kindness, with ties of love. I lifted the load from their neck and went down to feed them.

⁵ “They will not return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria will be their king, because they would not return to Me. ⁶ The sword will come upon their cities and destroy their gates. And it will destroy them because of their plans. ⁷ My people are always turning from Me. Even when those who speak for the Lord call them to the Most High, no one honors Him.

⁸ “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I give you up, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart will not let Me do it. I love you very much. ⁹ I will not do anything in My burning anger. I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man. I am the Holy One among you, and I will not come in anger. ¹⁰ They will follow the Lord, and He will make noise like a lion. Yes, He will make noise like a lion, and His children will come from the west shaking with fear. ¹¹ They will come shaking like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria. And I will return them to their homes,” says the Lord.

Israel and Judah Are Judged

¹² “The lies of Ephraim and the lies of the people of Israel are all around Me. And Judah will not obey God, the One Who is holy and faithful.”

12 Ephraim’s food is the wind, he goes after the east wind all day long. He tells many lies and does much in his anger. He makes an agreement with Assyria and takes oil to Egypt. ² The Lord has a cause against Judah, and will punish Jacob for his ways. He will make him pay for what he has done. ³ Before he was born he took his brother by the heel. And when he was grown he fought with God. ⁴ He fought with the angel and won. He cried and begged for His favor. He met God at Bethel, and God spoke with him there. ⁵ This was the Lord, the God of All. The Lord is His name. ⁶ So return to your God. Show kindness and do what is fair, and wait for your God all the time. ⁷ One who buys and sells and who lies about the weight of things loves to make it hard for others. ⁸ Ephraim has said, “I have become rich. I have found riches for myself. With all my riches they will not find any sin in me.”

⁹ “I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your special suppers. ¹⁰ I have spoken to the men who speak for Me. I have given many special dreams. And I gave picture-stories through the men who speak for Me.”

¹¹ Is there sin in Gilead? For sure its people are of no worth. In Gilgal they kill bulls in worship. Their altars are like the many stones laid beside a plowed field. ¹² Jacob ran away to the land of Aram. There he worked for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. ¹³ By a man who spoke for Him, the Lord brought Israel from Egypt. And by a man who spoke for Him, the Lord cared for him. ¹⁴ But Ephraim has made the Lord very angry. So the Lord will leave on him the guilt of his blood, and make his shame return to him.

Israel Judged the Last Time

13 When Ephraim spoke, men shook in fear. He was honored in Israel. But he sinned by worshiping Baal, and died. ² And now they sin more and more. They make false gods for themselves. Their able workmen make them out of silver. And they say, “Let the men who give gifts in worship kiss the calf-gods!” ³ So they will be like the morning cloud, and like the water on the grass in the early morning which is soon gone. They will be like the dust of the grain that is blown away from the grain-floor, and like smoke from a fire.

⁴ “I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of Egypt. You were not to know any god but Me, for there is no one who can save you but Me. ⁵ I cared for you in the desert, in the land where there was no water. ⁶ When I fed them, they were filled. And when they were filled, their heart became proud and they forgot Me. ⁷ So I will be like a lion to them. I will lie in wait by the road like a leopard. ⁸ I will fight them like a bear robbed of her young ones. I will tear open their chests. I will eat them there like a female lion, and tear them like a wild animal.

⁹ “I will destroy you, O Israel, because you are against Me, against your Helper. ¹⁰ Where is your king, that he may save you? Where are your rulers in all your cities, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and leaders’? ¹¹ I gave you a king in My anger, and in My anger I took him away.

¹² “The wrong-doing of Ephraim is being kept. His sin is being stored up. ¹³ The pains like a woman giving birth will come upon him, but he is not a wise son. He is not willing to be born. ¹⁴ I will pay the price to free them from the power of the grave. I will save them from death. O Death, where are your thorns? O Grave, where is your power to destroy? I will have no loving-pity.

¹⁵ “Even if he grows among his brothers, an east wind will come. The wind of the Lord will come from the desert. And his well will dry up. His water will be gone. It will take away everything of much worth. ¹⁶ Samaria will suffer for her guilt, for she has not wanted to obey her God. They will be killed by the sword. Their little ones will be crushed in pieces. And their women who are soon to give birth will be torn open.”

Hosea’s Last Words to Israel

14 Return to the Lord your God, O Israel, for you have fallen because of your sin. ² Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all sin, and receive us in kindness, that we may praise You with our lips. ³ Assyria will not save us. We will not ride on horses. And we will never say again, ‘Our god,’ to what we have made with our hands. For those who have no father find loving-kindness in You.”

New Life for Israel

⁴ “I will bring My people back to Me. I will not hold back My love from them, for I am no longer angry with them. ⁵ I will be to Israel like the water on the grass in the early morning. He will grow like the lily, and have roots like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁶ His young branches will spread out and his beauty will be like the olive tree. His smell will be like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁷ Those who live in his shadow will grow like grain and like flowers of the vine. He will be known like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ “O Ephraim, what have I to do with false gods? It is I Who answer and take care of you. I am like a green cypress tree. Your fruit comes from Me.”

⁹ Whoever is wise, let him understand these things and know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and those who are right and good will follow them, but sinners will not follow them.