Hosea 8; Hosea 9; Hosea 10; Hosea 11; Hosea 12; Hosea 13; Hosea 14

Hosea 8

1 "Put the trumpet to your lips and give the warning! The enemy swoops down on the Lord's people like an eagle. and have turned against my teachings.

2 They cry out to me, 'Our God, we in Israel know you!'

3 But Israel has rejected what is good, so the enemy will chase them.

4 They chose their own kings without asking my permission. They chose their own leaders, people I did not know. They made their silver and gold into idols, and for all this they will be destroyed.

5 I hate the calf-shaped idol of Israel! I am very angry with the people. How long will they remain unclean?

6 The idol is something a craftsman made; it is not God. Israel's calf-shaped idol will surely be smashed to pieces.

7 "Israel's foolish plans are like planting the wind, but they will harvest a storm. Like a stalk with no head of grain, it produces nothing. Even if it produced something, other nations would eat it.

8 Israel is eaten up; the people are mixed among the other nations and have become useless to me.

9 Israel is like a wild donkey all by itself. They have run to Assyria; They have hired other nations to protect them.

10 Although Israel is mixed among the nations, I will gather them together. They will become weaker and weaker as they suffer under the great king of Assyria.

11 "Although Israel built more altars to remove sin, they have become altars for sinning.

12 I have written many teachings for them, but they think the teachings are strange and foreign.

13 The Israelites offer sacrifices to me as gifts and eat the meat, but the Lord is not pleased with them. He remembers the evil they have done, and he will punish them for their sins. They will be slaves again as they were in Egypt.

14 Israel has forgotten their Maker and has built palaces; Judah has built many strong, walled cities. But I will send fire on their cities and destroy their strong buildings."

Hosea 9

1 Israel, do not rejoice; don't shout for joy as the other nations do. You have been like a prostitute against your God. You love the pay of prostitutes on every threshing floor.

2 But the threshing floor and the winepress will not feed the people, and there won't be enough new wine.

3 The people will not stay in the Lord's land. Israel will return to being captives as they were in Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat food that they are not allowed to eat.

4 The Israelites will not give offerings of wine to the Lord; they will not give him sacrifices. Their sacrifices will be like food that is eaten at a funeral; it is unclean, and everyone who eats it becomes unclean. Their food will only satisfy their hunger; they cannot sacrifice it in the Temple.

5 What will you do then on the day of feasts and on the day of the Lord's festival?

6 Even if the people are not destroyed, Egypt will capture them; Memphisn will bury them. Weeds will grow over their silver treasures, and thorns will drive them out of their tents.

7 The time of punishment has come, the time to pay for sins. You think the prophet is a fool, and you say the spiritual person is crazy. You have sinned very much, and your hatred is great.

8 Is Israel a watchman? Everywhere Israel goes, traps are set for him. He is an enemy in God's house.

9 The people of Israel have gone deep into sin as the people of Gibeahn did. they have done, and he will punish their sins.

10 "When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert. Your ancestors were like finding the first figs on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they began worshiping an idol, and they became as hateful as the thing they worshiped.

11 Israel's glory will fly away like a bird; there will be no more pregnancy, no more births, no more getting pregnant.

12 But even if the Israelites bring up children, I will take them all away. How terrible it will be for them when I go away from them!

13 I have seen Israel, like Tyre, given a pleasant place. their children to be killed."

14 Lord, give them what they should have. What will you give them? Make their women unable to have children; give them dried-up breasts that cannot feed their babies.

15 "The Israelites were very wicked in Gilgal, so I have hated them there. Because of the sinful things they have done, I will force them to leave my land. I will no longer love them; their leaders have turned against me.

16 Israel is beaten down; its root is dying, and it has no fruit. If they have more children, I will kill the children they love."

17 God will reject them, because they have not obeyed him; they will wander among the nations.

Hosea 10

1 Israel is like a large vine that produced plenty of fruit. As the people became richer, they built more altars for idols. As their land became better, they put up better stone pillars to honor gods.

2 Their heart was false, and now they must pay for their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars; he will destroy their holy stone pillars.

3 Then they will say, "We have no king, because we didn't honor the Lord. As for the king, he couldn't do anything for us."

4 They make many false promises and agreements which they don't keep. So people sue each other in court; they are like poisonous weeds growing in a plowed field.

5 The people from Israel are worried about the calf-shaped idol at Beth Aven. The people will cry about it, and the priests will cry about it. They used to shout for joy about its glory,

6 but it will be carried off to Assyria as a gift to the great king. Israel will be disgraced, and the people will be ashamed for not obeying.

7 Israel will be destroyed; its king will be like a chip of wood floating on the water.

8 The places of false worship will be destroyed, the places where Israel sins. Thorns and weeds will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!" and to the hills, "Fall on us!"

9 "Israel, you have sinned since the time of Gibeah, and the people there have continued sinning. But war will surely overwhelm them in Gibeah, because of the evil they have done there.

10 When I am ready, I will come to punish them. Nations will come together against them, and they will be punished for their double sins.

11 Israel is like a well-trained young cow that likes to thresh grain. I will put a yoke on her neck and make her work hard in the field. Israel will plow, and Judah will break up the ground.

12 I said, 'Plant goodness, harvest the fruit of loyalty, plow the new ground of knowledge. and pours goodness on you like water.'

13 But you have plowed evil and harvested trouble; you have eaten the fruit of your lies. Because you have trusted in your own power and your many soldiers,

14 your people will hear the noise of battle, and all your strong, walled cities will be destroyed. destroyed Beth Arbel in battle, when mothers and their children were bashed to death.

15 The same will happen to you, people of Bethel, because you did so much evil. When the sun comes up, the king of Israel will die.

Hosea 11

1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.

2 But when I called the people of Israel, they went away from me. and burned incense to the idols.

3 It was I who taught Israel to walk, and I took them by the arms, but they did not understand that I had healed them.

4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ropes of love. I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down and fed them.

5 "The Israelites will become captives again, as they were in Egypt, and Assyria will become their king, because they refuse to turn back to God.

6 War will sweep through their cities and will destroy them and kill them because of their wicked plans.

7 My people have made up their minds to turn away from me. The prophets call them to turn to me, but none of them honors me at all.

8 "Israel, how can I give you up? How can I give you away, Israel? or treat you like Zeboiim. My heart beats for you, and my love for you stirs up my pity.

9 I won't punish you in my anger, and I won't destroy Israel again. I am God and not a human; I am the Holy One, and I am among you. I will not come against you in anger.

10 They will go after the Lord, and he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will hurry to him from the west.

11 They will come swiftly like birds from Egypt and like doves from Assyria. I will settle them again in their homes," says the Lord.

12 Israel has surrounded me with lies; the people have made evil plans. And Judah turns against God, the faithful Holy One.

Hosea 12

1 What Israel does is as useless as chasing the wind; he chases the east wind all day. They tell more and more lies and do more and more violence. They make agreements with Assyria, and they send a gift of olive oil to Egypt.

2 The Lord also has some things against Judah. He will punish Israel for what they have done; he will give them what they deserve.

3 Their ancestor Jacob held on to his brother's heel while the two of them were being born. When he grew to be a man, he wrestled with God.

4 When Jacob wrestled with the angel and won, he cried and asked for his blessing. Later, God met with him at Bethel and spoke with him there.

5 It was the Lord God All-Powerful; the Lord is his great name.

6 You must return to your God; love him, do what is just, and always trust in him as your God.

7 The merchants use dishonest scales; they like to cheat people.

8 Israel said, "I am rich! I am someone with power!" All their money will do them no good because of the sins they have done.

9 "But I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again as you used to do on worship days.

10 I spoke to the prophets and gave them many visions; through them, I taught my lessons to you."

11 The people of Gilead are evil, worth nothing. Though people sacrifice bulls at Gilgal, their altars will become like piles of stone in a plowed field.

12 Your ancestor Jacob fled to Northwest Mesopotamia where he worked to get a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her.

13 Later the Lord used a prophet to bring Jacob's descendants out of Egypt; he used a prophet to take care of the Israelites.

14 But the Israelites made the Lord angry when they killed other people, and they deserve to die for their crimes. for the disgraceful things they have done.

Hosea 13

1 People used to fear the tribe of Ephraim; they were important people in Israel. But they sinned by worshiping Baal, so they must die.

2 But they still keep on sinning more and more. They make idols of their silver, idols that are cleverly made, the work of a craftsman. Yet the people of Israel say to each other, "Kiss those calf idols and sacrifice to them."

3 So those people will be like the morning mist; they will disappear like the morning dew. They will be like chaff blown from the threshing floor, like smoke going out a window.

4 "I, the Lord, have been your God since you were in the land of Egypt. You should have known no other God except me. I am the only one who saves.

5 I cared for them in the desert where it was hot and dry.

6 I gave them food, and they became full and satisfied. But then they became too proud and forgot me.

7 That is why I will be like a lion to them, like a leopard waiting by the road.

8 I will attack like a bear robbed of her cubs, ripping their bodies open. I will devour them like a lion and tear them apart like a wild animal.

9 "Israel, I will destroy you. Who will be your helper then?

10 What good is your king? Can he save you in any of your towns? What good are your leaders? You said, 'Give us a king and leaders.'

11 So I gave you a king, but only in anger, and I took him away in my great anger.

12 The sins of Israel are on record, stored away, waiting for punishment.

13 The pain of birth will come for him, but he is like a foolish baby who won't come out of its mother's womb.

14 Will I save them from the place of the dead? Will I rescue them from death? Where is your sickness, death? Where is your pain, place of death? I will show them no mercy.

15 Israel is doing well among the nations, but the Lord will send a wind from the east, coming from the desert, that will dry up his springs and wells of water. He will destroy from their treasure houses everything of value.

16 The nation of Israel will be ruined, because it fought against God. The people of Israel will die in war; their children will be torn to pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open."

Hosea 14

1 Israel, return to the Lord your God, because your sins have made you fall.

2 Come back to the Lord and say these words to him: "Take away all our sin and kindly receive us, and we will keep the promises we made to you.

3 Assyria cannot save us, nor will we trust in our horses. We will not say again, 'Our gods,' to the things our hands have made. You show mercy to orphans."

4 The Lord says, "I will forgive them for leaving me and will love them freely, because I am not angry with them anymore.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel, and they will blossom like a lily. Like the cedar trees in Lebanon, their roots will be firm.

6 They will be like spreading branches, like the beautiful olive trees and the sweet-smelling cedars in Lebanon.

7 The people of Israel will again live under my protection. They will grow like the grain, they will bloom like a vine, and they will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon.

8 Israel, have nothing to do with idols. I, the Lord, am the one who answers your prayers and watches over you. I am like a green pine tree; your blessings come from me."

9 A wise person will know these things, and an understanding person will take them to heart. The Lord's ways are right. Good people live by following them, but those who turn against God die because of them.