Hosea 1; Hosea 2; Hosea 3; Hosea 4; Hosea 5; Hosea 6; Hosea 7

Hosea 1

1 The LORD spoke his word to Hosea, son of Beeri, when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah and when Jeroboam, son of Joash, was king of Israel.

2 When the LORD first spoke to Hosea, the LORD told him, "Marry a prostitute, and have children with that prostitute. The people in this land have acted like prostitutes and abandoned the LORD."

3 So Hosea married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim. She became pregnant and had a son.

4 The LORD told Hosea, "Name him Jezreel. In a little while I will punish Jehu's family for the people they slaughtered at Jezreel. Then I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

5 On that day I will break Israel's bows and arrows in the valley of Jezreel."

6 Gomer became pregnant again and had a daughter. The LORD told Hosea, "Name her Lo Ruhamah [Unloved]. I will no longer love the nation of Israel. I will no longer forgive them.

7 Yet, I will love the descendants of Judah. I will rescue them because I am the LORD their God. I won't use bows, swords, wars, horses, or horsemen to rescue them."

8 After Gomer had weaned Lo Ruhamah, she became pregnant again and had a son.

9 The LORD said, "Name him Lo Ammi [Not My People]. You are no longer my people, and I am no longer your God. ,

10 "Yet, the Israelites will become as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one will be able to measure them or count them. Wherever they were told, 'You are not my people,' they will be told, 'You are the children of the living God.'

11 The people of Judah and Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint one leader for themselves, and they will grow in the land. The day of Jezreel will be a great day.

Hosea 2

1 "So call your brothers Ammi [My People], and call your sisters Ruhamah [Loved].

2 "Plead with your mother; plead with her. She no longer acts like my wife. She no longer treats me like her husband. Tell her to stop acting like a prostitute. Tell her to remove the lovers from between her breasts.

3 If she refuses, I will strip her. I will leave her as naked as the day she was born. I will turn her into a dry and barren land, and she will die of thirst.

4 I won't love her children, because they are children of a prostitute.

5 Their mother acted like a prostitute. The woman who became pregnant with them did shameful things. She said, 'I'll chase after my lovers. They will give me food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine.'

6 "That is why I will block her way with thornbushes and build a wall so that she can't get through.

7 She will run after her lovers, but she won't catch them. She will search for them, but she won't find them. Then she will say, 'I'll go back to my first husband. Things were better for me than they are now.'

8 "She doesn't believe that I gave her grain, new wine, and olive oil. I gave her plenty of silver and gold, but she used it to make statues of Baal.

9 That is why I will take back my grain when it has ripened and my new wine when it's in season. I will take away the wool and the linen that I gave her to cover her naked body.

10 I will show her naked body to her lovers, and no one will rescue her from my power.

11 I will put an end to all her celebrations: her annual festivals, her New Moon Festivals, her weekly worship days--all her appointed festivals.

12 I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees. She said that they were gifts from her lovers. I will turn her vineyards into a forest, and wild animals will devour them.

13 I will punish her for all the times she burned incense as an offering to other gods--the Baals. She put on her rings and jewelry, and she chased after her lovers. She forgot me," declares the LORD.

14 "That is why I'm going to win her back. I will lead her into the desert. I will speak tenderly to her.

15 I will give her vineyards there. I will make the valley of Achor [Disaster] a door of hope. Then she will respond as she did when she was young, as she did when she came out of Egypt.

16 "On that day she will call me her husband," declares the LORD. "She will no longer call me her master.

17 I won't allow her to say the names of other gods called Baal. She will never again call out their names.

18 "On that day I will make an arrangement with the wild animals, the birds, and the animals that crawl on the ground. I will destroy all the bows, swords, and weapons of war, so people can live safely.

19 "Israel, I will make you my wife forever. I will be honest and faithful to you. I will show you my love and compassion.

20 I will be true to you, my wife. Then you will know the LORD.

21 "On that day I will answer your [prayers]," declares the LORD. "I will speak to the sky, it will speak to the earth,

22 and the earth will produce grain, new wine, and olive oil. You will produce many crops, Jezreel.

23 I will plant my people in the land. Those who are not loved I will call my loved ones. Those who are not my people I will call my people. Then they will say, 'You are our God!'"

Hosea 3

1 Then the LORD told me, "Love your wife again, even though she is loved by others and has committed adultery. Love her as I, the LORD, love the Israelites, even though they have turned to other gods and love to eat raisin cakes."

2 So I bought her for 23 ounces of silver and 10 bushels of barley.

3 Then I told her, "You must wait for me a long time. Don't be a prostitute or offer yourself to any man. I will wait for you."

4 In the same way, the Israelites will wait a long time without kings or officials, without sacrifices or sacred stones, and without ephods or family idols.

5 After that, the Israelites will turn and look to the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD for his blessings in the last days.

Hosea 4

1 Listen to the word of the LORD, you Israelites. The LORD has brought these charges against those who live in the land: "There is no faith, no love, and no knowledge of God in the land.

2 There is cursing, lying, murdering, stealing, and adultery. People break [my laws], and there is one murder after another.

3 That is why the land is drying up, and everyone who lives in it is passing away. Wild animals, birds, and fish are dying.

4 "No one should accuse other people or bring charges against them. My case is against you priests.

5 During the day you stumble, and during the night the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother, [the nation of Israel].

6 I will destroy my people because they are ignorant. You have refused to learn, so I will refuse to let you be my priests. You have forgotten the teachings of your God, so I will forget your children.

7 The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. So I will turn their glory into shame.

8 They feed on the sins of my people, and they want them to do wicked things.

9 So the priests will be punished like the people. I will punish them for their wicked ways and pay them back for what they have done.

10 "They will eat, but they'll never be full. They will have sex with prostitutes, but they'll never have children. They have abandoned the LORD.

11 Prostitutes, old wine, and new wine have robbed them of their senses.

12 My people ask their wooden idols for help. A piece of wood tells them what to do. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray. They commit adultery by giving themselves to other gods.

13 They offer sacrifices on mountaintops, and they burn incense on the hills under oaks, poplars, and other trees. They think that these trees provide good shade. "That is why your daughters become prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

14 Yet, I will not punish your daughters when they become prostitutes or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. The men go to prostitutes and offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes. These foolish people will be trampled.

15 "Israel, you act like a prostitute. Don't let Judah become guilty too. Don't go to Gilgal. Don't go to Beth Aven. Don't take the oath, 'As the LORD lives....'

16 "The people of Israel are as stubborn as a bull. How can the LORD feed them like lambs in an open pasture?

17 The people of Ephraim have chosen to worship idols. Leave them alone!

18 When they're done drinking their wine, they continue to have sex with the prostitutes. Their rulers dearly love to act shamefully.

19 The wind will carry them away in its wings, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

Hosea 5

1 "Listen to this, you priests! Pay attention, nation of Israel! Open your ears, royal family! This is my decision about you. You set traps at Mizpah and spread out nets on Mount Tabor.

2 You are deeply involved in sin. So I will punish all of you.

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel isn't a stranger to me. Now, Ephraim, you are acting like a prostitute, and Israel is unclean.

4 "The wicked things that the people have done keep them from returning to their God. They have a spirit of prostitution, and they don't know the LORD.

5 The people of Israel's arrogance testifies against them. Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their sins, and Judah stumbles with them.

6 They go with their sheep and their cattle to search for the LORD, but they can't find him. He has left them.

7 They have been unfaithful to the LORD, because their children do not belong to him. Now their New Moon [Festivals] will devour them and their fields.

8 "Blow the ram's horn in Gibeah. Blow the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth Aven, you descendants of Benjamin.

9 Ephraim will become a wasteland when the time for punishment comes. I will make the truth known among the tribes of Israel.

10 The leaders of Judah are like those who move boundary markers. I will pour my fury on them like water.

11 Ephraim is oppressed--crushed by punishment, because its people are determined to chase idols.

12 I will destroy Ephraim as a moth destroys clothing. I will destroy the nation of Judah as rot destroys wood.

13 "When Ephraim saw that he was sick and when Judah saw his own wounds, Ephraim went to Assyria to ask the great king for help. But the king couldn't cure them or heal their wounds.

14 I will be like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the nation of Judah. I will carry [them] off, and no one will rescue [them].

15 I will go back to my place until they admit that they are guilty. Then they will search for me. In their distress they will eagerly look for me."

Hosea 6

1 Let's return to the LORD. Even though he has torn us to pieces, he will heal us. Even though he has wounded us, he will bandage our wounds.

2 After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us so that we may live in his presence.

3 Let's learn about the LORD. Let's get to know the LORD. He will come to us as sure as the morning comes. He will come to us like the autumn rains and the spring rains that water the ground.

4 "What should I do with you, Ephraim? What should I do with you, Judah? Your love is like fog in the morning. It disappears as quickly as the morning dew.

5 That is why I cut [you] down by sending the prophets. I killed you with the words from my mouth. My judgments shined on you like light.

6 I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices. I want you to know me, not to give me burnt offerings.

7 "Like Adam, you rejected the promise. You were unfaithful to me.

8 Gilead is a city filled with troublemakers. It is stained with bloody footprints.

9 The priests are like gangs of robbers who lie in ambush for a person. They murder on the road to Shechem. Certainly, they have committed a crime.

10 "I have seen horrible things in the nation of Israel. Ephraim is acting like a prostitute, and Israel is unclean.

11 "Yet, Judah, I have set a harvest time for you when I bring my people back from captivity.

Hosea 7

1 "Whenever I want to heal Israel, all I can see is Ephraim's sin and Samaria's wickedness. People cheat each other. They break into houses and steal. They rob people in the streets.

2 They don't realize that I remember all the evil things they've done. Now their sins surround them. Their sins are in my presence.

3 "They make kings happy with the wicked things they do. They make officials happy with the lies they tell.

4 They all commit adultery. They are like a heated oven, an oven so hot that a baker doesn't have to fan its flames when he makes bread.

5 On the day of the king's celebration, the officials become drunk from wine, and the king joins mockers.

6 They become hot like an oven while they lie in ambush. All night long their anger smolders, but in the morning it burns like a raging fire.

7 They are all as hot as an oven. They consume their judges [like a fire]. All their kings die in battle, and none of them calls to me.

8 "Ephraim mixes with other nations. Ephraim, you are like a half-baked loaf of bread.

9 Foreigners are using up your strength, but you don't realize it. You have become a gray-haired, old man, but you don't realize it.

10 Israel, your arrogance testifies against you, but even after all this, you don't turn to the LORD your God or look to him for help.

11 Ephraim, you are like a silly, senseless dove. You call for Egypt and run to Assyria for help.

12 When you go, I will spread my net over you. I will snatch you out of the air like a bird. I will punish you for all the evil things you have done.

13 "How horrible it will be for these people. They have run away from me. They must be destroyed because they've rebelled against me. I want to reclaim them, but they tell lies about me.

14 They don't pray to me sincerely, even though they cry in their beds and make cuts on their bodies while praying for grain and new wine. They have turned against me.

15 I trained them and made them strong. Yet, they plan evil against me.

16 They don't return to the Most High. They are like a defective bow. Their officials will die in battle because they curse. The people in Egypt will ridicule them for this.