CHAPTER 1
THE 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.
2 The 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.
3 So he went and took Gomer
the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
4 And 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.
5 And it shall come to pass
at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
6 And she conceived again, and bare 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.
7 But 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.
8 Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare
a son.
9 Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye 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 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.
11 Then 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
SAY ye unto your brethren,
Ammi; and to your sisters, Ru-hamah.
2 Plead 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;
3 Lest I strip her naked, and
set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set
her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
4 And I will not have mercy
upon her children; for they be the
children of whoredoms.
5 For 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.
6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and
make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
7 And 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.
8 For she did not know that I
gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
9 Therefore will I return,
and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof,
and will recover my wool and my flax given
to cover her nakedness.
10 And now will I discover
her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine
hand.
11 I will also cause all her
mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her
solemn feasts.
12 And I will destroy her
vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a
forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13 And 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 forgat me,
saith the Lord.
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the
wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
15 And I will give her her
vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she
shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came
up out of the land of Egypt.
16 And it shall be at that
day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt
call me no more Baali.
17 For I will take away the
names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their
name.
18 And 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.
19 And I will betroth thee
unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in
judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
20 I will even betroth thee
unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.
21 And 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;
22 And the earth shall hear
the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
23 And I will sow her unto me
in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I
will say to them which were not my people,
Thou art my people; and they shall
say, Thou art my God.
CHAPTER 3
THEN 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.
2 So I bought her to me for
fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half
homer of barley:
3 And 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.
4 For 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:
5 Afterward 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.
CHAPTER 4
HEAR the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the
inhabitants of the land, because there
is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge
of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and
killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood
toucheth blood.
3 Therefore 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.
4 Yet let no man strive, nor
reprove another: for thy people are
as they that strive with the priest.
5 Therefore shalt thou fall
in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will
destroy thy mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou
hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest
to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy
children.
7 As they were increased, so they
sinned against me: therefore will I
change their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of my
people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
9 And there shall be, like
people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their
doings.
10 For 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.
11 Whoredom and wine and new
wine take away the heart.
12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff
declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a
whoring from under their God.
13 They sacrifice upon the
tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars
and elms, because the shadow thereof is
good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall
commit adultery.
14 I 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.
15 Though 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.
16 For Israel slideth back as
a backsliding heifer: now the Lord
will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
18 Their drink is sour: they
have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
19 The wind hath bound her up
in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
CHAPTER 5
HEAR ye this, O priests; and
hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment
is toward you, because ye have been a
snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
2 And the revolters are
profound to make slaughter, though I have
been a rebuker of them all.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel
is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
4 They will not frame their
doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.
5 And the pride of Israel
doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their
iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.
6 They 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.
7 They have dealt
treacherously against the Lord:
for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with
their portions.
8 Blow ye the cornet in
Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry
aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O
Benjamin.
9 Ephraim shall be desolate
in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which
shall surely be.
10 The princes of Judah were
like them that remove the bound: therefore
I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the
commandment.
12 Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
13 When Ephraim saw his
sickness, and Judah saw his wound,
then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not
heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a
lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall
rescue him.
15 I will go and
return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in
their affliction they will seek me early.
CHAPTER 6
COME, and let us return unto
the Lord: for he hath torn, and he
will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days will he
revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his
sight.
3 Then 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.
4 O 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.
5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them
by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are
as the light that goeth forth.
6 For I desired mercy, and
not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 But they like men have
transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with
blood.
9 And as troops of robbers
wait for a man, so the company of
priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.
10 I have seen an horrible
thing in the house of Israel: there is
the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
11 Also, O Judah, he hath set
an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.
CHAPTER 7
WHEN I would have healed
Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of
Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth
without.
2 And they consider not in
their hearts that I remember all
their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before
my face.
3 They make the king glad
with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath
kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
5 In the day of our king the
princes have made him sick with
bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
6 For they have made ready
their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the
night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.
7 They are all hot as an
oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.
8 Ephraim, he hath mixed
himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 Strangers have devoured his
strength, and he knoweth it not: yea,
gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
10 And the pride of Israel
testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this.
11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call
to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
12 When they shall go, I will
spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I
will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.
13 Woe unto them! for they
have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against
me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
14 And they have not cried
unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble
themselves for corn and wine, and
they rebel against me.
15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they
imagine mischief against me.
16 They return, but not to the most High: they are like
a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their
tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
CHAPTER 8
SET the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of
the Lord, because they have
transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
2 Israel shall cry unto me,
My God, we know thee.
3 Israel hath cast off the thing
that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
4 They have set up kings, but
not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols,
that they may be cut off.
5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it
be ere they attain to innocency?
6 For from Israel was it also: the workman made it;
therefore it is not God: but the calf
of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7 For they have sown the
wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield
no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up: now
shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
9 For they are gone up to Assyria,
a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
10 Yea, though they have
hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little
for the burden of the king of princes.
11 Because Ephraim hath made
many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
12 I have written to him the
great things of my law, but they were
counted as a strange thing.
13 They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings,
and eat it; but the Lord accepteth
them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall
return to Egypt.
14 For Israel hath forgotten
his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I
will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
CHAPTER 9
REJOICE not, O Israel, for
joy, as other people: for thou hast
gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.
2 The floor and the winepress
shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.
3 They shall not dwell in the
LordŐs land; but Ephraim shall
return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things
in Assyria.
4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto
him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners;
all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall
not come into the house of the Lord.
5 What will ye do in the
solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For, lo, they are gone
because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them:
the pleasant places for their silver,
nettles shall possess them: thorns shall
be in their tabernacles.
7 The days of visitation are
come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a
fool, the spiritual man is mad, for
the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a
snare of a fowler in all his ways, and
hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their
iniquity, he will visit their sins.
10 I found Israel like grapes
in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her
first time: but they went to
Baal-peor, and separated themselves unto that
shame; and their abominations were
according as they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their
glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from
the conception.
12 Though they bring up their
children, yet will I bereave them, that
there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I
depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but
Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
14 Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a
miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them:
for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will
love them no more: all their princes are
revolters.
16 Ephraim is smitten, their
root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet
will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
17 My God will cast them
away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among
the nations.
CHAPTER 10
ISRAEL is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according
to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the
goodness of his land they have made goodly images.
2 Their heart is divided; now
shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil
their images.
3 For now they shall say, We
have no king, because we feared not the Lord;
what then should a king do to us?
4 They have spoken words,
swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in
the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria
shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall
mourn over it, and the priests thereof that
rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
6 It shall be also carried
unto Assyria for a present to king
Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own
counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king
is cut off as the foam upon the water.
8 The high places also of
Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall
come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to
the hills, Fall on us.
9 O Israel, thou hast sinned
from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the
children of iniquity did not overtake them.
10 It is in my desire that I
should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they
shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
11 And Ephraim is as
an heifer that is taught, and loveth to
tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to
ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob
shall break his clods.
12 Sow to yourselves in
righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is
time to seek the Lord, till he
come and rain righteousness upon you.
13 Ye have plowed wickedness,
ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst
trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
14 Therefore shall a tumult
arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman
spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
15 So shall Beth-el do unto
you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel
utterly be cut off.
CHAPTER 11
WHEN Israel was a child, then I loved him, and
called my son out of Egypt.
2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto
Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
3 I taught Ephraim also to
go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
4 I drew them with cords of a
man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on
their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian
shall be his king, because they refused to return.
6 And the sword shall abide
on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
7 And my people are bent to
backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all
would exalt him.
8 How shall I give thee up,
Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee,
Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how
shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are
kindled together.
9 I will not execute the
fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the
midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.
10 They shall walk after the
Lord: he shall roar like a lion:
when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
11 They shall tremble as a
bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place
them in their houses, saith the Lord.
12 Ephraim compasseth me
about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with
God, and is faithful with the saints.
CHAPTER 12
EPHRAIM feedeth on wind, and
followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and
they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2 The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah,
and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he
recompense him.
3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his
strength he had power with God:
4 Yea, he had power over the
angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us;
5 Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is
his memorial.
6 Therefore turn thou to thy
God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
7 He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am
become rich, I have found me out substance: in
all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
9 And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will
yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
10 I have also spoken by the
prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry
of the prophets.
11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they
sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
12 And Jacob fled into the
country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
13 And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by
a prophet was he preserved.
14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore
shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto
him.
CHAPTER 13
WHEN Ephraim spake trembling,
he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
2 And now they sin more and
more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work
of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be as
the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of
the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am the Lord thy God
from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great
drought.
6 According to their pasture,
so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore
have they forgotten me.
7 Therefore I will be unto
them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
8 I will meet them as a bear that is
bereaved of her whelps, and will rend
the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild
beast shall tear them.
9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
10 I will be thy king: where is any
other that may save thee in all thy cities?
and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11 I gave thee a king in mine
anger, and took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
13 The sorrows of a
travailing woman shall come upon him: he is
an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
14 I will ransom them from
the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy
plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine
eyes.
15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness,
and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall
spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16 Samaria shall become
desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword:
their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be
ripped up.
CHAPTER 14
O ISRAEL, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by
thine iniquity.
2 Take with you words, and
turn to the Lord: say unto him,
Take away all iniquity, and receive us
graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
3 Asshur shall not save us;
we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our
hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for
mine anger is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto
Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread,
and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his
shadow shall return; they shall revive as
the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of
Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy
fruit found.
9 Who is
wise, and he shall understand these things?
prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and
the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.