Hosea 1
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 Loruhamah: 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 Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. 9 Then said God, Call his
name Loammi: 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.
Hosea 2
1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah. 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.
Hosea 3
1 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.
Hosea 4
1 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 Bethaven, 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.
Hosea 5
1 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 Bethaven, 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.
Hosea 6
1 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.
Hosea 7
1 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.
Hosea 8
1 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.
Hosea 9
1 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 LORD's 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 Baalpeor, 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.
Hosea 10
1 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 Bethaven: 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 Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in
pieces upon her children. 15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great
wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.
Hosea 11
1 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, and 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.
Hosea 12
1 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 Bethel, 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.
Hosea 13
1 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.
Hosea 14
1 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.