4
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without
•ephod
or household idols.
5
Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the
Lord
their God and David their king. They will come with awe to the
Lord
and to His goodness in the last days.
Hosea
God's Case against Israel
4
Hear the word of the
Lord
, people of Israel,
for the
Lord
has a case
against the inhabitants of the land:
There is no truth, no faithful love,
and no knowledge of God in the land!
2
Cursing, lying, murder, stealing,
and adultery are rampant;
one act of bloodshed follows another.
3
For this reason the land mourns,
and everyone who lives in it languishes,
along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky;
even the fish of the sea disappear.
4
But let no one dispute; let no one argue,
for My case is against you priests.
5
You will stumble by day;
the prophet will also stumble with you by night.
And I will destroy your mother.
6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I will reject you from serving as My priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I will also forget your sons.
7
The more they multiplied,
the more they sinned against Me.
I will change their honor into disgrace.
8
They feed on the sin of My people;
they have an appetite for their transgressions.
9
The same judgment will happen
to both people and priests.
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10
They will eat but not be satisfied;
they will be promiscuous but not multiply.
For they have abandoned their devotion to the
Lord
.
11
Promiscuity, wine, and new wine
take away one's understanding.
12
My people consult their wooden idols,
and their divining rods inform them.
For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray;
they act promiscuously
in disobedience to their God.
13
They sacrifice on the mountaintops,
and they burn offerings on the hills,
and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
because their shade is pleasant.
And so your daughters act promiscuously
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14
I will not punish your daughters
when they act promiscuously
or your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
for the men themselves go off with prostitutes
and make sacrifices with cult prostitutes.
People without discernment are doomed.
Warnings for Israel and Judah
15
Israel, if you act promiscuously,
don't let Judah become
•guilty
!
Do not go to Gilgal
or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven,
and do not swear an oath: As the
Lord
lives!
16
For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow.
Can the
Lord
now shepherd them
like a lamb in an open meadow?
17
Ephraim is attached to idols;
leave him alone!
18
When their drinking is over,
they turn to promiscuity.
Israel's leaders fervently love disgrace.
19
A wind with its wings will carry them off,
and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.
Hosea
5
Hear this, priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, royal house!
For the judgment applies to you
because you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread out on Tabor.
2
Rebels are deeply involved in slaughter;
I will be a punishment for all of them.
3
I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from Me.
For now, Ephraim,
you have acted promiscuously;
Israel is defiled.
4
Their actions do not allow them
to return to their God,
for a spirit of promiscuity is among them,
and they do not know the
Lord
.
5
Israel's arrogance testifies against them.
Both Israel and Ephraim stumble
because of their wickedness;
even Judah will stumble with them.
6
They go with their flocks and herds
to seek the
Lord
but do not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them.
7
They betrayed the
Lord
;
indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.
Now the New Moon will devour them
along with their fields.
8
Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah;
raise the war cry in Beth-aven:
After you, Benjamin!
9
Ephraim will become a desolation
on the day of punishment;
I announce what is certain
among the tribes of Israel.
10
The princes of Judah are like those
who move boundary markers;
I will pour out My fury on them like water.
11
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
for he is determined to follow what is worthless.
12
So I am like rot to Ephraim
and like decay to the house of Judah.
13
When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah his wound,
Ephraim went to Assyria
and sent a delegation to the great king.
But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
14
For I am like a lion to Ephraim
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart.
I will carry them off,
and no one can rescue them.
15
I will depart and return to My place
until they recognize their
•guilt
and seek My face;
they will search for Me in their distress.
Hosea
A Call to Repentance
6
Come, let us return to the
Lord
.
For He has torn us,
and He will heal us;
He has wounded us,
and He will bind up our wounds.
2
He will revive us after two days,
and on the third day He will raise us up
so we can live in His presence.
3
Let us strive to know the
Lord
.
His appearance is as sure as the dawn.
He will come to us like the rain,
like the spring showers that water the land.
The
Lord
's First Lament
4
What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?
What am I going to do with you, Judah?
Your loyalty is like the morning mist
and like the early dew that vanishes.
5
This is why I have used the prophets
to cut them down;
I have killed them with the words of My mouth.
My judgment strikes like lightning.
6
For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than
•burnt
offerings.
7
But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant;
there they have betrayed Me.
8
Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with bloody footprints.
9
Like raiders who wait in ambush for someone,
a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem.
They commit atrocities.
10
I have seen something horrible in the house of Israel:
Ephraim's promiscuity is there; Israel is defiled.
11
A harvest is also appointed for you, Judah.
When I return My people from captivity,
Hosea
7
when I heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim and the crimes of Samaria
will be exposed.
For they practice fraud;
a thief breaks in;
a raiding party pillages outside.
2
But they never consider that I remember all their evil.
Now their sins are all around them;
they are right in front of My face.
Israel's Corruption
3
They please the king with their evil,
the princes with their lies.
4
All of them commit adultery;
they are like an oven heated by a baker
who stops stirring the fire
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
5
On the day of our king,
the princes are sick with the heat of wine —
there is a conspiracy with traitors.
6
For they — their hearts like an oven —
draw him into their oven.
Their anger smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7
All of them are as hot as an oven,
and they consume their rulers.
All their kings fall;
not one of them calls on Me.
8
Ephraim has allowed himself to get mixed up with the nations.
Ephraim is unturned bread baked on a griddle.
9
Foreigners consume his strength,
but he does not notice.
Even his hair is streaked with gray,
but he does not notice.
10
Israel's arrogance testifies against them,
yet they do not return to
•Yahweh
their God,
and for all this, they do not seek Him.
11
So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove;
they call to Egypt, and they go to Assyria.
12
As they are going, I will spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like birds of the sky.
I will discipline them in accordance
with the news that reaches their assembly.
The
Lord
's Second Lament
13
Woe to them, for they fled from Me;
destruction to them, for they rebelled against Me!
Though I want to redeem them,
they speak lies against Me.
14
They do not cry to Me from their hearts;
rather, they wail on their beds.
They slash themselves for grain and new wine;
they turn away from Me.
15
I trained and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil against Me.
16
They turn, but not to what is above;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of the cursing of their tongue.
They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt.
Hosea
Israel's False Hopes
8
Put the horn to your mouth!
One like an eagle comes
against the house of the
Lord
,
because they transgress My covenant
and rebel against My law.
2
Israel cries out to Me,
“My God, we know You!”
3
Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.
4
They have installed kings,
but not through Me.
They have appointed leaders,
but without My approval.
They make their silver and gold
into idols for themselves
for their own destruction.
5
Your calf-idol is rejected, Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6
For this thing is from Israel —
a craftsman made it, and it is not God.
The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!