1 I am Hosea son of Beeri. When Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah, and when Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, the LORD spoke this message to me.
2 The LORD said, "Hosea, Israel has betrayed me like an unfaithful wife. Marry such a woman and have children by her."
3 So I married Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and we had a son.
4 Then the LORD said, "Hosea, name your son Jezreel, because I will soon punish the descendants of King Jehu of Israel for the murders he committed in Jezreel Valley. I will destroy his kingdom,
5 and in Jezreel Valley I will break the power of Israel."
6 Later, Gomer had a daughter, and the LORD said, "Name her Lo-Ruhamah, because I will no longer have mercy and forgive Israel.
7 But I am the LORD God of Judah, and I will have mercy and save Judah by my own power--not by wars and arrows or swords and cavalry."
8 After Gomer had stopped nursing Lo-Ruhamah, she had another son.
9 Then the LORD said, "Name him Lo-Ammi, because these people are not mine, and I am not their God."
10 Someday it will be impossible to count the people of Israel, because there will be as many of them as there are grains of sand along the seashore. They are now called "Not My People," but in the future they will be called "Children of the Living God."
11 Israel and Judah will unite and choose one leader. Then they will take back their land, and this will be a great day for Jezreel.
1 So let your brothers be called "My People" and your sisters be called "Shown Mercy."
2 Accuse! Accuse your mother! She is no longer my wife, and now I, the LORD, am not her husband. Beg her to give up prostitution and stop being unfaithful,
3 or I will strip her naked like the day she was born. I will make her barren like a desert, and she will die of thirst.
4 You children are the result of her unfaithfulness, and I'll show you no pity.
5 Your mother was unfaithful. She was disgraceful and said, "I'll run after my lovers. Everything comes from them-- my food and drink, my linen and wool, my olive oil and wine."
6 I, the LORD, will build a fence of thorns to block her path.
7 She will run after her lovers, but not catch them; she will search, but not find them. Then she will say, "I'll return to my first husband. Life was better then."
8 She didn't know that her grain, wine, and olive oil were gifts from me, as were the gold and silver she used in worshiping Baal.
9 So I'll hold back the harvest of grain and grapes. I'll take back my wool and my linen that cover her body.
10 Then I'll strip her naked in the sight of her lovers. No one can rescue her.
11 I'll stop Israel's celebrations-- no more New Moon Festivals, Sabbaths, or other feasts.
12 She said, "My lovers gave me vineyards and fig trees as payment for sex." Now I, the LORD, will ruin her vineyards and fig trees; they will become clumps of weeds eaten by wild animals.
13 I'll punish her for the days she worshiped Baal and burned incense to him. I'll punish her for the times she forgot about me and wore jewelry and rings to attract her lovers. I, the LORD, have spoken!
14 Israel, I, the LORD, will lure you into the desert and speak gently to you.
15 I will return your vineyards, and then Trouble Valley will become Hopeful Valley. You will say "Yes" to me as you did in your youth, when leaving Egypt.
16 I promise that from that day on, you will call me your husband instead of your master.
17 I will no longer even let you mention the names of those pagan gods that you called "Master."
18 And I will agree to let you live in peace--you will no longer be attacked by wild animals and birds or by weapons of war.
19 I will accept you as my wife forever, and instead of a bride price I will give you justice, fairness, love, kindness,
20 and faithfulness. Then you will truly know who I am.
21 I will command the sky to send rain on the earth,
22 and it will produce grain, grapes, and olives in Jezreel Valley.
23 I will scatter the seeds and show mercy to Lo-Ruhamah. I will say to Lo-Ammi, "You are my people," and they will answer, "You are our God."
1 Once again the LORD spoke to me. And this time he said, "Hosea, fall in love with an unfaithful woman who has a lover. Do this to show that I love the people of Israel, even though they worship idols and enjoy the offering cakes made with fruit."
2 So I paid fifteen pieces of silver and about ten bushels of grain for such a woman.
3 Then I said, "Now you are mine! You will have to remain faithful to me, though it will be a long time before we sleep together."
4 It will also be a long time before Israel has a king or before sacrifices are offered at the temple or before there is any way to get guidance from God.
5 But later, Israel will turn back to the LORD their God and to David their king. At that time they will come to the LORD with fear and trembling, and he will be good to them.
1 Israel, listen as the LORD accuses everyone in the land! No one is faithful or loyal or truly cares about God.
2 Cursing, dishonesty, murder, robbery, unfaithfulness-- these happen all the time. Violence is everywhere.
3 And so your land is a desert. Every living creature is dying-- people and wild animals, birds and fish.
4 Don't accuse just anyone! Not everyone is at fault. My case is against you, the priests.
5 You and the prophets will stumble day and night; I'll silence your mothers.
6 You priests have rejected me, and my people are destroyed by refusing to obey. Now I'll reject you and forget your children, because you have forgotten my Law.
7 By adding more of you priests, you multiply the number of people who sin. Now I'll change your pride into shame.
8 You encourage others to sin, so you can stuff yourselves on their sin offerings.
9 That's why I will punish the people for their deeds, just as I will punish you priests.
10 Their food won't satisfy, and having sex at pagan shrines won't produce children. My people have rebelled
11 and have been unfaithful to me, their LORD. My people, you are foolish because of too much pleasure and too much wine.
12 You expect wooden idols and other objects of wood to give you advice. Lusting for sex at pagan shrines has made you unfaithful to me, your God.
13 You offer sacrifices on mountaintops and hills, under oak trees, and wherever good shade is found. Your own daughters and daughters-in-law sell themselves for sex.
14 But I won't punish them. You men are to blame, because you go to prostitutes and offer sacrifices with them at pagan shrines. Your own foolishness will lead to your ruin.
15 Israel, you are unfaithful, but don't lead Judah to sin. Stop worshiping at Gilgal or at sinful Bethel. And quit making promises in my name-- the name of the living LORD.
16 You are nothing more than a stubborn cow-- so stubborn that I, the LORD, cannot feed you like lambs in an open pasture.
17 You people of Israel are charmed by idols. Leave them alone!
18 You get drunk, then sleep with prostitutes; you would rather be vulgar than lead a decent life.
19 And so you will be swept away in a whirlwind for sacrificing to idols.
1 Listen, you priests! Pay attention, Israel! Listen, you members of the royal family. Justice was your duty. But at Mizpah and Mount Tabor you trapped the people.
2 At the place of worship you were a treacherous pit, and I will punish you.
3 Israel, I know all about you, and because of your unfaithfulness, I find you unacceptable.
4 Your evil deeds are the reason you won't return to me, your LORD God. And your constant craving for sex keeps you from knowing me.
5 Israel, your pride testifies to your guilt; it makes you stumble, and Judah stumbles too.
6 You offer sheep and cattle as sacrifices to me, but I have turned away and refuse to be found.
7 You have been unfaithful to me, your LORD; you have had children by prostitutes. So at the New Moon Festival, you and your crops will be destroyed.
8 Give a warning on the trumpet! Let it be heard in Gibeah, Ramah, and sinful Bethel. Benjamin, watch out!
9 I, the LORD, will punish and wipe out Israel. This is my solemn promise to every tribe of Israel.
10 Judah's leaders are like crooks who move boundary markers; that's why I will flood them with my anger.
11 Israel was brutally crushed. They got what they deserved for worshiping useless idols.
12 Now I, the LORD, will fill Israel with maggots and make Judah rot.
13 When Israel and Judah saw their sickness and wounds, Israel asked help from Assyria and its mighty king. But the king cannot cure them or heal their wounds.
14 So I'll become a fierce lion attacking Israel and Judah. I'll snatch and carry off what I want, and no one can stop me.
15 Then I'll return to my temple until they confess their guilt and worship me, until they are desperate and beg for my help.
1 Let's return to the LORD. He has torn us to shreds, but he will bandage our wounds and make us well.
2 In two or three days he will heal us and restore our strength that we may live with him.
3 Let's do our best to know the LORD. His coming is as certain as the morning sun; he will refresh us like rain renewing the earth in the springtime.
4 People of Israel and Judah, what can I do with you? Your love for me disappears more quickly than mist or dew at sunrise.
5 That's why I slaughtered you with the words of my prophets. That's why my judgments blazed like the dawning sun.
6 I'd rather for you to be faithful and to know me than to offer sacrifices.
7 At a place named Adam, you betrayed me by breaking our agreement.
8 Everyone in Gilead is evil; your hands are stained with the blood of victims.
9 You priests are like a gang of robbers in ambush. On the road to Shechem you murder and commit other horrible crimes.
10 I have seen a terrible thing in Israel-- you are unfaithful and unfit to worship me.
11 People of Judah, your time is coming too. I, the LORD, would like to make my nation prosper again
1 and to heal its wounds. But then I see the crimes in Israel and Samaria. Everyone is deceitful; robbers roam the streets.
2 No one realizes that I have seen their sins surround them like a flood.
3 The king and his officials take great pleasure in their sin and deceit.
4 Everyone burns with desire-- they are like coals in an oven, ready to burst into flames.
5 On the day their king was crowned, his officials got him drunk, and he joined in their foolishness.
6 Their anger is a fire that smolders all night, then flares up at dawn.
7 They are flames destroying their leaders. And their kings are powerless; none of them trust me.
8 The people of Israel have mixed with foreigners; they are a thin piece of bread scorched on one side.
9 They don't seem to realize how weak and feeble they are; their hair has turned gray, while foreigners rule.
10 I am the LORD, their God, but in all of their troubles their pride keeps them from returning to me.
11 Israel is a senseless bird, fluttering back and forth between Egypt and Assyria.
12 But I will catch them in a net as hunters trap birds; I threatened to punish them, and indeed I will.
13 Trouble and destruction will be their reward for rejecting me. I would have rescued them, but they told me lies.
14 They don't really pray to me; they just howl in their beds. They have rejected me for Baal and slashed themselves, in the hope that Baal will bless their crops.
15 I taught them what they know, and I made them strong. Now they plot against me
16 and refuse to obey. They are more useless than a crooked arrow. Their leaders will die in war for saying foolish things. Egyptians will laugh at them.
1 Sound a warning! Israel, you broke our agreement and ignored my teaching. Now an eagle is swooping down to attack my land.
2 Israel, you say, "We claim you, the LORD, as our God."
3 But your enemies will chase you for rejecting our good agreement.
4 You chose kings and leaders without consulting me; you made silver and gold idols that led to your downfall.
5 City of Samaria, I'm angry because of your idol in the shape of a calf. When will you ever be innocent again?
6 Someone from Israel built that idol for you, but only I am God. And so it will be smashed to pieces.
7 If you scatter wind instead of wheat, you will harvest a whirlwind and have no wheat. Even if you harvest grain, enemies will steal it all.
8 Israel, you are ruined, and now the nations consider you worthless.
9 You are like a wild donkey that goes its own way. You've run off to Assyria and hired them as allies.
10 You can bargain with nations, but I'll catch you anyway. Soon you will suffer abuse by kings and rulers.
11 Israel, you have built many altars where you offer sacrifices for sin. But these altars have become places for sin.
12 My instructions for sacrifices were written in detail, but you ignored them.
13 You sacrifice your best animals and eat the sacrificial meals, but I, the LORD, refuse your offerings. I will remember your sins and punish you. Then you will return to Egypt.
14 Israel, I created you, but you forgot me. You and Judah built palaces and many strong cities. Now I will send fire to destroy your towns and fortresses.
1 Israel, don't celebrate or make noisy shouts like other nations. You have been unfaithful to your God. Wherever grain is threshed, you behave like prostitutes because you enjoy the money you receive.
2 But you will run short of grain and wine,
3 and you will have to leave the land of the LORD. Some of you will go to Egypt; others will go to Assyria and eat unclean food.
4 You won't be able to offer sacrifices of wine to the LORD. None of your sacrifices will please him-- they will be unclean like food offered to the dead. Your food will only be used to satisfy your hunger; none of it will be brought to the LORD's temple.
5 You will no longer be able to celebrate the festival of the LORD.
6 Even if you escape alive, you will end up in Egypt and be buried in Memphis. Your silver treasures will be lost among weeds; thorns will sprout in your tents.
7 Israel, the time has come. You will get what you deserve, and you will know it. "Prophets are fools," you say. "And God's messengers are crazy." Your terrible guilt has filled you with hatred.
8 Israel, the LORD sent me to look after you. But you trap his prophets and flood his temple with your hatred.
9 You are brutal and corrupt, as were the men of Gibeah. But God remembers your sin, and you will be punished.
10 Israel, when I, the LORD, found you long ago it was like finding grapes in a barren desert or tender young figs. Then you worshiped Baal Peor, that disgusting idol, and you became as disgusting as the idol you loved.
11 And so, Israel, your glory will fly away like birds-- your women will no longer be able to give birth.
12 Even if you do have children, I will take them all and leave you to mourn. I will turn away, and you will sink down in deep trouble.
13 Israel, when I first met you, I thought of you as palm trees growing in fertile ground. Now you lead your people out, only to be slaughtered.
14 Our LORD, do just one thing for your people-- make their women unable to have children or to nurse their babies.
15 Israel, I first began to hate you because you did evil at Gilgal. Now I will chase you out of my house. No longer will I love you; your leaders betrayed me.
16 Israel, you are a vine with dried-up roots and fruitless branches. Even if you had more children and loved them dearly, I would slaughter them all.
17 Israel, you disobeyed my God. Now he will force you to roam from nation to nation.
1 You were a healthy vine covered with grapes. But the more grapes you grew, the more altars you built; the better off you became, the better shrines you set up for pagan gods.
2 You are deceitful and disloyal. So you will pay for your sins, because the LORD will destroy your altars and images.
3 "We don't have a king," you will say. "We don't fear the LORD. And what good are kings?"
4 Israel, you break treaties and don't keep promises; you turn justice into poisonous weeds where healthy plants should grow.
5 All who live in Samaria tremble with concern for the idols at sinful Bethel. The idol there was the pride of the priests, but it has been put to shame; now everyone will cry.
6 It will be taken to Assyria and given to the great king. Then Israel will be disgraced for worshiping that idol.
7 Like a twig in a stream, the king of Samaria will be swept away.
8 The altars at sinful Bethel will be destroyed for causing Israel to sin; they will be grown over with thorns and thistles. Then everyone will beg the mountains and hills to cover and protect them.
9 Israel, you have never stopped sinning since that time at Gibeah. That's why you will be attacked at Gibeah.
10 Your sins have doubled, and you are rebellious. Now I have decided to send nations to attack and put you in chains.
11 Once you were obedient like a calf that loved to thresh grain. But I will put a harness on your powerful neck; you and Judah must plow and cultivate the ground.
12 Plow your fields, scatter seeds of justice, and harvest faithfulness. Worship me, the LORD, and I will send my saving power down like rain.
13 You have planted evil, harvested injustice, and eaten the fruit of your lies. You trusted your own strength and your powerful forces.
14 So war will break out, and your fortresses will be destroyed. Your enemies will do to you what Shalman did to the people of Beth-Arbel-- mothers and their children will be beaten to death against rocks.
15 Bethel, this will be your fate because of your evil. Israel, at dawn your king will be killed.
1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.
2 But as the saying goes, "The more they were called, the more they rebelled." They never stopped offering incense and sacrifices to the idols of Baal.
3 I took Israel by the arm and taught them to walk. But they would not admit that I was the one who had healed them.
4 I led them with kindness and with love, not with ropes. I held them close to me; I bent down to feed them.
5 But they trusted Egypt instead of returning to me; now Assyria will rule them.
6 War will visit their cities, and their plans will fail.
7 My people are determined to reject me for a god they think is stronger, but he can't help.
8 Israel, I can't let you go. I can't give you up. How could I possibly destroy you as I did the towns of Admah and Zeboiim? I just can't do it. My feelings for you are much too strong.
9 Israel, I won't lose my temper and destroy you again. I am the Holy God-- not merely some human, and I won't stay angry.
10 I, the LORD, will roar like a lion, and my children will return, trembling from the west.
11 They will come back, fluttering like birds from Egypt or like doves from Assyria. Then I will bring them back to their homes. I, the LORD, have spoken!
12 Israel is deceitful to me, their loyal and holy God; they surround me with lies, and Judah worships other gods.
1 All day long Israel chases wind from the desert; deceit and violence are found everywhere. Treaties are made with Assyria; olive oil is taken to Egypt.
2 The LORD also brings charges against the people of Judah, the descendants of Jacob. He will punish them for what they have done.
3 Even before Jacob was born, he cheated his brother, and when he grew up, he fought against God.
4 At Bethel, Jacob wrestled with an angel and won; then with tears in his eyes, he asked for a blessing, and God spoke to us there.
5 God's name is the LORD, the LORD God All-Powerful.
6 So return to your God. Patiently trust him, and show love and justice.
7 Israel, you enjoy cheating and taking advantage of others.
8 You say to yourself, "I'm rich! I earned it all on my own, without committing a sin."
9 Israel, I, the LORD, am still your God, just as I have been since the time you were in Egypt. Now I will force you to live in tents once again, as you did in the desert.
10 I spoke to the prophets-- often I spoke in visions. And so, I will send my prophets with messages of doom.
11 Gilead is terribly sinful and will end up ruined. Bulls are sacrificed in Gilgal on altars made of stones, but those stones will be scattered in every field.
12 Jacob escaped to Syria where he tended sheep to earn himself a wife.
13 I sent the prophet Moses to lead Israel from Egypt and to keep them safe.
14 Israel, I will make you pay for your terrible sins and for insulting me.
1 When your leaders spoke, everyone in Israel trembled and showed great respect. But you sinned by worshiping Baal, and you were destroyed.
2 Now you continue to sin by designing and making idols of silver in the shape of calves. You are told to sacrifice to these idols -- yes, even to kiss them.
3 And so, all of you will vanish like the mist or the dew of early morning, or husks of grain in the wind or smoke from a chimney.
4 I, the LORD, have been your God since the time you were in Egypt. I am the only God you know, the only one who can save.
5 I took care of you in a thirsty desert.
6 I fed you till you were satisfied, then you became proud and forgot about me.
7 Now I will attack like a lion, ambush you like a leopard,
8 and rip you apart like a bear robbed of her cubs. I will gnaw on your bones, as though I were a lion or some other wild animal.
9 Israel, you are done for. Don't expect help from me.
10 You wanted a king and rulers. Where is your king now? What cities have rulers?
11 In my anger, I gave you a king; in my fury, I took him away.
12 Israel, your terrible sins are written down and stored away.
13 You are like a senseless child who refuses to be born at the proper time.
14 Should I, the LORD, rescue you from death and the grave? No! I call death and the grave to strike you like a plague. I refuse to show mercy.
15 No matter how much you prosper more than the other tribes, I, the LORD, will wipe you out, just as a scorching desert wind dries up streams of water. I will take away your precious treasures.
16 Samaria will be punished for turning against me. It will be destroyed in war-- children will be beaten against rocks, and pregnant women will be ripped open.
1 Israel, return! Come back to the LORD, your God. Sin has made you fall.
2 Return to the LORD and say, "Please forgive our sins. Accept our good sacrifices of praise instead of bulls.
3 Assyria can't save us, and chariots can't help. So we will no longer worship the idols we have made. Our LORD, you show mercy to orphans."
4 Israel, you have rejected me, but my anger is gone; I will heal you and love you without limit.
5 I will be like the dew-- then you will blossom like lilies and have roots like a tree.
6 Your branches will spread with the beauty of an olive tree and with the aroma of Lebanon Forest.
7 You will rest in my shade, and your grain will grow. You will blossom like a vineyard and be famous as the wine from Lebanon.
8 Israel, give up your idols! I will answer your prayers and take care of you. I am that glorious tree, the source of your fruit.
9 If you are wise, you will know and understand what I mean. I am the LORD, and I lead you along the right path. If you obey me, we will walk together, but if you are wicked, you will stumble.