Hosea 1-6
New American Standard Bible
2When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, 'Go, take for yourself a wife inclined to infidelity, and children of infidelity; for the land commits flagrant infidelity, abandoning 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, 'Name him Jezreel; for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.'
6Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to him, 'Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer take pity on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.
7But I will take pity on the house of Judah and save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.'
8When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son.
9And the Lord said, 'Name him Lo-ammi, because you are not My people, and I am not your God.'
10 Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or counted; And in the place Where it is said to them, 'You are not My people,' It will be said to them, ' You are the sons of the living God.'
11And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, And they will appoint for themselves one leader, And they will go up from the land, For the day of Jezreel will be great.
2'Dispute with your mother, dispute, Because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; But she must remove her infidelity from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,
3Otherwise, I will strip her naked And expose her as on the day she was born. I will also make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land, And put her to death with thirst.
4Also, I will take no pity on her children, Because they are children of infidelity.
5For their mother has committed prostitution; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
6Therefore, behold, I will obstruct her way with thorns, And I will build a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
7And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband, Because it was better for me then than now!’
8'Yet she does not know that it was I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they used for Baal.
9Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax That I gave to cover her nakedness.
10So now I will uncover her lewdness Before the eyes of her lovers, And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11I will also put an end to all her joy, Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festivals.
12And I will destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will turn them into a forest, And the animals of the field will devour them.
13I will punish her for the days of the Baals When she used to offer sacrifices to them And adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,' declares the Lord.
14'Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her, Bring her into the wilderness, And speak kindly to her.
15Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will respond there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
16And it will come about on that day,' declares the Lord, 'That you will call Me my husband And no longer call Me my Baal.
17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will no longer be mentioned by their names.
18On that day I will also make a covenant for them With the animals of the field, The birds of the sky, And the crawling things of the ground. And I will eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And will let them lie down in safety.
19I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion,
20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord.
21'And it will come about on that day that I will respond,' declares the Lord. 'I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, And they will respond to Jezreel.
23I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they will say, ‘ You are my God!’?'
Chapter 3
1Then the Lord said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet is committing adultery, as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.' 2So I purchased her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3Then I said to her, 'You shall live with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute, nor shall you have another man; so I will also be toward you.' 4For the sons of Israel will live for many days without a king or leader, without sacrifice or memorial stone, and without ephod or household idols. 5Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.Chapter 4
1Listen to the word of the Lord, you sons of Israel, Because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, For there is no faithfulness, nor loyalty, Nor knowledge of God in the land. 2 There is oath-taking, denial, murder, stealing, and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. 3Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes Along with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky, And even the fish of the sea disappear. 4Yet let no one find fault, and let no one rebuke; For your people are like those who contend with a priest. 5So you will stumble by day, And the prophet also will stumble with you by night; And I will destroy your mother. 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children. 7The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. 8They feed on the sin of My people, And long for their wrongdoing. 9And it will be, like people, like priest; So I will punish them for their ways And repay them for their deeds. 10They will eat, but not have enough; They will play the prostitute, but not increase, Because they gave up devoting themselves to the Lord. 11 Infidelity, wine, and new wine take away the understanding. 12My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them; For a spirit of infidelity has led them astray, And they have been unfaithful, departing from their God. 13They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains And burn incense on the hills, Under oak, poplar, and terebinth, Because their shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, And your brides commit adultery. 14I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, Or your brides when they commit adultery, Because the men themselves slip away with the prostitutes And offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes; So the people without understanding are ruined. 15Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, Judah must not become guilty; Also you are not to go to Gilgal, Nor go up to Beth-aven And take the oath: 'As the Lord lives!' 16Since Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn cow, Will the Lord now pasture them Like a lamb in a large field? 17Ephraim is allied with idols; Leave him alone. 18Their liquor is gone, They prostitute themselves continually; Their rulers dearly love shame. 19The wind wraps them in its wings, And they will be put to shame because of their sacrifices.Chapter 5
1Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, you of the house of the king! For the judgment applies to you, Because you have been a trap at Mizpah, And a net spread out on Tabor. 2And the rebels have gone deep in depravity, But I will discipline all of them. 3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful, Israel has defiled itself. 4Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of infidelity is within them, And they do not know the Lord. 5Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their wrongdoing; Judah also has stumbled with them. 6They will go with their flocks and herds To seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them. 7They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, For they have given birth to illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their land. 8Blow the horn in Gibeah, And the trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Beth-aven: 'Behind you, Benjamin!' 9Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is trustworthy. 10The leaders of Judah have become like those who displace a boundary marker; On them I will pour out My anger like water. 11Ephraim is oppressed, broken by judgment, Because he was determined to follow man’s command. 12Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, And like rottenness to the house of Judah. 13When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah his sore, Ephraim then went to Assyria And sent word to King Jareb. But he is unable to heal you, Or to cure you of your sore. 14For I will be like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, yes I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be no one to rescue. 15I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their distress they will search for Me.Chapter 6
1'Come, let’s return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. 2He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. 3So let’s learn, let’s press on to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, As the spring rain waters the earth.' 4What shall I do with you, Ephraim? What shall I do with you, Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, And like the dew which goes away early. 5Therefore I have cut them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that shines. 6For I desire loyalty rather than sacrifice, And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7But like Adam they have violated the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously with Me. 8Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, Tracked with bloody footprints. 9And as a band of robbers lie in wait for a person, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Certainly they have committed an act of infamy. 10In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim’s infidelity is there, Israel has defiled itself. 11Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, When I restore the fortunes of My people.King James Version
Chapter 1
1The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. 3So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bore him a son. 4And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
6And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
7But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
8Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son.
9Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.
10Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
11Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Chapter 2
1Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah. 2Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
5For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
6Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
7And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
8For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
13And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord.
14Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
17For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
18And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
20I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.
21And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
Chapter 3
1Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. 2So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer of barley, and a half homer of barley: 3And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. 4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: 5Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.
3Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
4Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
10For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.
11Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
14I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.
15Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, The Lord liveth.
17Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
18Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
5And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.
6They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.
7They have dealt treacherously against the Lord: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.
8Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin.
9Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
10The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
11Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.
12Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
13When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
14For 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 take away, and none shall rescue him.
3Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
4O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
Christian Standard Bible
4Then the Lord said to him: Name him Jezreel, for in a little while I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.
6She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him: Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel. I will certainly take them away.
7But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the Lord their God. I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war, or by horses and cavalry.
9Then the Lord said: Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God.
10Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And in the place where they were told: You are not my people, they will be called: Sons of the living God.
11And the Judeans and the Israelites will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves a single ruler and go up from the land. For the day of Jezreel will be great.
Chapter 2
1Call your brothers: My People and your sisters: Compassion. 2Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. For she is not my wife and I am not her husband. Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts. 3Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her as she was on the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and like a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst. 4I will have no compassion on her children because they are the children of promiscuity. 5Yes, their mother is promiscuous; she conceived them and acted shamefully. For she thought, "I will follow my lovers, the men who give me my food and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink." 6Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths. 7She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will think, "I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now." 8She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal. 9Therefore, I will take back my grain in its time and my new wine in its season; I will take away my wool and linen, which were to cover her nakedness. 10Now I will expose her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from my power. 11I will put an end to all her celebrations: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her festivals. 12I will devastate her vines and fig trees. She thinks that these are her wages that her lovers have given her. I will turn them into a thicket, and the wild animals will eat them.
14Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
15There I will give her vineyards back to her and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
16In that day— this is the Lord’s declaration— you will call me, "My husband," and no longer call me, "My Baal."
17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; they will no longer be remembered by their names.
18On that day I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will shatter bow, sword, and weapons of war in the land and will enable the people to rest securely.
19I will take you to be my wife forever. I will take you to be my wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion.
20I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness, and you will know the Lord.
21On that day I will respond — this is the Lord’s declaration. I will respond to the sky, and it will respond to the earth.
22The earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.
23I will sow her in the land for myself, and I will have compassion on Lo-ruhamah; I will say to Lo-ammi: You are my people, and he will say, "You are my God."
2So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and five bushels of barley.
3I said to her, "You are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you."
4For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.
5Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come with awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the last days.
Chapter 4
1Hear the word of the Lord, people of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land! 2Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another. 3For this reason the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes, along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky; even the fish of the sea disappear. 4But let no one dispute; let no one argue, for my case is against you priests. 5You will stumble by day; the prophet will also stumble with you by night. And I will destroy your mother.
6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons.
7The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me. I will change their honor into disgrace.
8They feed on the sin of my people; they have an appetite for their iniquity.
9The same judgment will happen to both people and priests. I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
10They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord.
11Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away one’s understanding.
12My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray; they act promiscuously in disobedience to their God.
13They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and they burn offerings on the hills, and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters act promiscuously and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14I will not punish your daughters when they act promiscuously or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, for the men themselves go off with prostitutes and make sacrifices with cult prostitutes. People without discernment are doomed.
15Israel, if you act promiscuously, don’t let Judah become guilty! Do not go to Gilgal or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven, and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives!
16For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow. Can the Lord now shepherd them like a lamb in an open meadow?
17Ephraim is attached to idols; leave him alone!
18When their drinking is over, they turn to promiscuity. Israel’s leaders fervently love disgrace.
19A wind with its wings will carry them off, and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.
Chapter 5
1Hear this, priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, royal house! For the judgment applies to you because you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor. 2Rebels are deeply involved in slaughter; I will be a punishment for all of them. 3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me. For now, Ephraim, you have acted promiscuously; Israel is defiled. 4Their actions do not allow them to return to their God, for a spirit of promiscuity is among them, and they do not know the Lord. 5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them. Both Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their iniquity; even Judah will stumble with them. 6They go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord but do not find him; he has withdrawn from them.
7They betrayed the Lord; indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their fields.
8Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the war cry in Beth-aven: Look behind you, Benjamin!
9Ephraim will become a desolation on the day of punishment; I announce what is certain among the tribes of Israel.
10The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers; I will pour out my fury on them like water.
11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow what is worthless.
12So I am like rot to Ephraim and like decay to the house of Judah.
13When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria and sent a delegation to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
14For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart. I will carry them off, and no one can rescue them.
15I will depart and return to my place until they recognize their guilt and seek my face; they will search for me in their distress.
Chapter 6
1Come, let us return to the Lord. For he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds. 2He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence. 3Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land. 4What am I going to do with you, Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes. 5This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down; I have killed them with the words from my mouth. My judgment strikes like lightning.New Living Translation
3So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.
4And the Lord said, 'Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence.
5I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.'
6Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, 'Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah — ‘Not loved’ — for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.
7But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies — not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.'
8After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son.
9And the Lord said, 'Name him Lo-ammi — ‘Not my people’ — for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.
10Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore — too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’
11Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be — the day of Jezreel — when God will again plant his people in his land.
2'But now bring charges against Israel — your mother — for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts.
3Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness.
4And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.
5Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’
6'For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way.
7When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’
8She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has — the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.
9'But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness.
10I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands.
11I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days — all her appointed festivals.
12I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees, things she claims her lovers gave her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit.
13I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,' says the Lord.
14'But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.
15I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
16When that day comes,' says the Lord, 'you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’
17O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again.
18On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety.
19I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.
20I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.
21'In that day, I will answer,' says the Lord. 'I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain.
22Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel’ — ‘God plants!’
23At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’'
2So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.
3Then I said to her, 'You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me. '
4This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!
5But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to David’s descendant, their king. In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the Lord and of his goodness.
Chapter 4
1Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: 'There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. 2You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere — one murder after another. 3That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.
4'Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you.
5So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother.
6My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.
7The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols.
8'When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin!
9‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’ So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds.
10They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the Lord
11to worship other gods. 'Wine has robbed my people of their understanding.
12They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.
13They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. 'That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes. O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed.
15'Though you, Israel, are a prostitute, may Judah not be guilty of such things. Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, and do not take oaths there in the Lord’s name.
16Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture?
17Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry.
18When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor.
19So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.
Chapter 5
1'Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel. Listen, you members of the royal family. Judgment has been handed down against you. For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor. 2You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove. But I will settle with you for what you have done. 3I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled. 4Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the Lord.
5'The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them.
6When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the Lord, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them.
7They have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.
8'Sound the alarm in Gibeah! Blow the trumpet in Ramah! Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven ! Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!
9One thing is certain, Israel : On your day of punishment, you will become a heap of rubble.
10'The leaders of Judah have become like thieves. So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall.
11The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols.
12I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.
13'When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria — to the great king there — but he could neither help nor cure them.
14I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them.
15Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.'
Chapter 6
1'Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. 2In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. 3Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.'
4'O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?' asks the Lord. 'For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
5I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces — to slaughter you with my words, with judgments as inescapable as light.
6I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.
7But like Adam, you broke my covenant and betrayed my trust.
8'Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood.
9Priests form bands of robbers, waiting in ambush for their victims. They murder travelers along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin.
10Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel: My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!
English Standard Version
2When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for 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 I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel."
6She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, "Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.
7But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I 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, "Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God."
10Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God."
11And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Chapter 2
1Say to your brothers, "You are my people," and to your sisters, "You have received mercy."
2"Plead with your mother, plead — for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband — that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts;
3lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and kill her with thirst.
4 Upon her children also I will have no mercy, because they are children of whoredom.
5For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
6Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and 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. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’
8And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.
9Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness.
10Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
11 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts.
12And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
13And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord.
14"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
15And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16"And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’
17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.
18And 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 I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.
19And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.
20I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
21"And in that day 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 Jezreel,
23and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’"
Chapter 3
1And the Lord said to me, "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 homer and a lethech of barley. 3And I said to her, "You must 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 shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.Chapter 4
1 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; 2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. 3Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away. 4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. 5You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. 8 They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. 9 And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. 10 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 take away the understanding. 12My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore. 13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, 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 the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin. 15Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to 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 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone. 18When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring; their rulers dearly love shame. 19 A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.Chapter 5
1 Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. 2And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, but I will discipline all of them. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled. 4 Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord. 5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them. 6 With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. 7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. 8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; we follow you, 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 those who move the landmark; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water. 11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth. 12But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah. 13When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. 14For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. 15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.Chapter 6
1"Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." 4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. 9As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy. 10In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim 's whoredom is there; Israel is defiled. 11For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. When I restore the fortunes of my people,New International Version
2When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, "Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord."
3So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4Then the Lord said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, 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.
5In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel."
6Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means "not loved"), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them.
7Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them."
8After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son.
9Then the Lord said, "Call him Lo-Ammi (which means "not my people"), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.
10"Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’
11The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
2"Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adulterous look from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
3Otherwise I will strip her naked and make her as bare as on the day she was born; I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and slay her with thirst.
4I will not show my love to her children, because they are the children of adultery.
5Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace. She said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’
6Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
7She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.’
8She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold— which they used for Baal.
9"Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens, and my new wine when it is ready. I will take back my wool and my linen, intended to cover her naked body.
10So now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers; no one will take her out of my hands.
11I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.
12I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them.
13I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot," declares the Lord.
14"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.
15There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
16"In that day," declares the Lord, "you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master. ’
17I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.
18In 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. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.
19I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
20I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.
21"In that day I will respond," declares the Lord— "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth;
22and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.
23I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one. ’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people, ’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ "
2So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.
3Then 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."
4For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods.
5Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.
Chapter 4
1Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: "There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. 2There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.
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.
5You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother—
6my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.
7The more priests there were, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful.
8They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness.
9And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
10"They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not flourish, because they have deserted the Lord to give themselves
11to prostitution; old wine and new wine take away their understanding.
12My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.
15"Though you, Israel, commit adultery, do not let Judah become guilty. "Do not go to Gilgal; do not go up to Beth Aven. And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’
16The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the Lord pasture them like lambs in a meadow?
17Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!
18Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.
Chapter 5
1"Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor. 2The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them.
3I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.
4"Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the Lord.
5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them.
6When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.
7They are unfaithful to the Lord; they give birth to illegitimate children. When they celebrate their New Moon feasts, he will devour their fields.
8"Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven ; lead on, Benjamin.
9Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.
10Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.
11Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols.
12I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.
13"When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores.
14For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
15Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face— in their misery they will earnestly seek me."
Chapter 6
1"Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
3Let 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, like the spring rains that water the earth."
4"What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.
5Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth— then my judgments go forth like the sun.
6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
7As at Adam, they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there.
8Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood.
9As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes.
New King James Version
4Then the Lord said to him: “Call his name Jezreel, For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 It shall come to pass in that day That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away.
7 Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the Lord their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen.”
9Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God.
10“Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There it shall be said to them, ‘ You are sons of the living God.’
11 Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel!
Chapter 2
1Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ And to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’ 2“Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts; 3Lest I strip her naked And expose her, as in the day she was born, And make her like a wilderness, And set her like a dry land, And slay her with thirst. 4“I will not have mercy on her children, For they are the children of harlotry. 5For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.’ 6“Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And wall her in, So that she cannot find her paths. 7She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.’ 8For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold— Which they prepared for Baal. 9“Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time And My new wine in its season, And will take back My wool and My linen, Given to cover her nakedness. 10Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, And no one shall deliver her from My hand. 11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, Her feast days, Her New Moons, Her Sabbaths— All her appointed feasts. 12“And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, Of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13I will punish her For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, And went after her lovers; But Me she forgot,” says the Lord. 14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her. 15I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. 16“And it shall be, in that day,” Says the Lord, “ That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ 17For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more. 18In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely. 19“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; 20I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord. 21“It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer,” says the Lord; “I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth. 22The earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil; They shall answer Jezreel. 23Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”
2So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley.
3And I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.”
4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
5Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.
