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.

And he will go and take Gomer, daughter of Diblaim; and she will conceive and bring forth to him a son.

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.

Now when Lo-ruhamah had been taken from the breast, the woman gave birth to a son.

Then the children of Judah and Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one head; and {they will take possession of} the land, for great [is] the day of Jezreel.

Take up the cause against your mother, take it up, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; let her put away her loose ways from her face, and her false ways from between her breasts;

For fear that I may take away her robe from her, making her uncovered as in the day of her birth; making her like a waste place and a dry land, causing her death through need of water.

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.

And now I will make her shame clear before the eyes of her lovers, and no one will take her out of my hand.

Moreover, I will take away all her mirth, her holidays, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts:

And I will make waste her vines and her fig-trees, of which she has said, These are the payments which my lovers have made to me; and I will make them a waste of trees, and the beasts of the field will take them for food.

For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

And in that day I will make an agreement for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven and the things which go low on the earth; I will put an end to the bow and the sword and war in all the land, and will make them take their rest in peace.

And I will take you as my wife forever; I will take you as a wife for myself in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.

{I will take you as my wife} in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh.

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.

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.

Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

Do not you, O Israel, come into error; do not you, O Judah, come to Gilgal, or go up to Beth-aven, or take an oath, By the living Lord.

Ephraim is joined to idols,
So let him alone [to suffer the consequences].

Their drink has become bitter; they are completely false; her rulers take pleasure in shame.

A wind shall take hold of their feathers, and they shall be confounded in their offerings.

O ye priests, hear this; take heed, O thou household of Israel; give ear, O thou kingly house. For this punishment will come upon you, that are become a snare unto Mizphah, and a spread net unto the mount of Tabor.

They will go, with their flocks and their herds, in search of the Lord, but they will not see him; he has taken himself out of their view.

Ephraim will be ruined in the day of judgment! What I am declaring to the tribes of Israel will certainly take place!

The rulers of Judah are like those who take away a landmark; I will let loose my wrath on them like flowing water.

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.

When my desire was for the fate of my people to be changed and to make Israel well, then the sin of Ephraim was made clear, and the evil-doing of Samaria; for their ways are false, and the thief comes into the house, while the band of outlaws takes property by force in the streets.

When they go, my net will be stretched out over them; I will take them like the birds of heaven, I will give them punishment, I will take them away in the net for their sin.

Woe to them! for they have taken flight from me, destruction to them! for they have transgressed against me, - when, I, would have ransomed them, then, they, spake - concerning me - falsehoods.

Thy calf, O Samaria, shall be taken away, for my wrathful indignation is gone forth against thee. How long will it be, before they can be cleansed?

For they have been planting the wind, and their fruit will be the storm; his grain has no stem, it will give no meal, and if it does, a strange nation will take it.

He gives the offerings of his lovers, and takes the flesh for food; but the Lord has no pleasure in them; now he will keep in mind their evil-doing and give them the punishment of their sins; they will go back to Egypt.

They will have no resting-place in the Lord's land, but Ephraim will go back to Egypt, and they will take unclean food in Assyria.

They will give no wine offering to the Lord, they will not make offerings ready for him; their bread will be like the bread of those in sorrow; all who take it will be unclean, because their bread will be only for their desire, it will not come into the house of the Lord.

For even if they flee from devastation,
Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them.
Thistles will take possession of their precious silver;
thorns will invade their tents.

Even though their children have come to growth I will take them away, so that not a man will be there; for their evil-doing will be complete and they will be put to shame because of it.

As I have seen a beast whose young have been taken from her, so Ephraim will give birth to children only for them to be put to death.

Their mind is taken away; now they will be made waste: he will have their altars broken down, he will give their pillars to destruction.

The inhabitants of Samaria will lament over the calf idol of Beth Aven. Its people will mourn over it; its idolatrous priests will wail over it, because its splendor will be taken from them into exile.

The calf itself will be taken to Assyria
as an offering to the great king.
Ephraim will experience shame;
Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.

Israel, you have sinned
since the days of Gibeah;
they have taken their stand there.
Will not war against the unjust
overtake them in Gibeah?

Yet, I, had taught Ephraim to walk, I used to take them upon mine arms, - But they acknowledged not that I had healed them.

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.

Ephraim's food is the wind, and he goes after the east wind: deceit and destruction are increasing day by day; they make an agreement with Assyria, and take oil into Egypt.

As for Canaan, the scales of deceit are in his hands; he takes pleasure in twisted ways.

I will come face to face with them like a bear whose young ones have been taken from her, and their inmost hearts will be broken; there the dogs will make a meal of them; they will be wounded by the beasts of the field.

Where is your king, that he may be your saviour? and all your rulers, that they may take up your cause? of whom you said, Give me a king and rulers.

I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath.

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.

I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like the lily
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green fir tree; from me your fruit is found."

Who is wise, that he may understand these things? intelligent, that he may take knowledge of them? For, straightforward, are the ways of Yahweh, and, the righteous, shall travel therein, but, transgressors, shall stumble therein.