The beginning of Jehovah speaking by Hosea. And Jehovah said to Hosea, Go, take to yourself a wife of adultery and children of adultery. For the land has utterly gone lusting away from Jehovah.

Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can't be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'

and gathered have been the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel together, and they have appointed to themselves one head, and have gone up from the land, for great is the day of Jezreel.

For gone a-whoring hath their mother, Acted shamefully hath their conceiver, For she hath said, I go after my lovers, Those giving my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.

Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can't find her way.

And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

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.

I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute
Or your brides when they commit adultery,
For the men themselves slip away with prostitutes,
And they offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes [who give their bodies in honor of the idol].
So the people without understanding [stumble and fall and] come to ruin.

Though thou, Israel, are disposed to play the harlot, yet shouldest not thou have offended, O Judah. Thou shouldest not have run to Gilgal, nor gone up to Bethaven, nor have sworn, 'The LORD liveth.'

For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow.
Can the Lord now shepherd them
like a lamb in an open meadow?

Sour is their drink, They have gone diligently a-whoring, Her protectors have loved shame thoroughly.

And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter; but I am a rebuker of them all.

I have known Ephraim, And Israel hath not been hid from me, For now thou hast gone a-whoring, Ephraim, Defiled is Israel.

They shall come with their sheep and bullocks to seek the LORD, but they shall not find him, for he is gone from them.

Ephraim is oppressed, and can have no right of the law. For why? They follow the doctrines of men.

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.

He will revive us after two days,
and on the third day He will raise us up
so we can live in His presence.

What can I do unto thee, O Ephraim? What can I do unto thee, O Judah? for, your lovingkindness, is like a morning cloud, yea, like the dew, early departing!

But like a man, they have gone against the agreement; there they were false to me.

And the pride of Israel gives an answer to his face; but for all this, they have not gone back to the Lord their God, or made search for him.

And Ephraim is as a simple dove without heart, Egypt they called on -- to Asshur they have gone.

Whithersoever they go, I will spread over them my net, like a bird of the heavens, will I bring them down, I will chastise them, by the time the report can reach the flock of them.

May trouble be theirs! for they have gone far away from me; and destruction, for they have been sinning against me; I was ready to be their saviour, but they said false words against me.

They have gone to what is of no value; they are like a false bow; their captains will come to destruction by the sword, and their ruler by my wrath; for this, the land of Egypt will make sport of them.

Put the horn to your mouth. He comes like an eagle against the house of the Lord; because they have gone against my agreement, they have not kept my law.

Israel can say unto me, "Thou art my God, we know thee,"

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 the calf came from Israel; the workman made it: therefore can it be no God, but even to a spider's web shall the calf of Samaria be turned.

Swallowed up, is Israel; Now, have they gone among the nations, like a vessel in which no man taketh, delight.

For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

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.

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.

They have gone deep -- have done corruptly, As in the days of Gibeah, He doth remember their iniquity, He doth inspect their sins.

As grapes in a wilderness I found Israel, As the first-fruit in a fig-tree, at its beginning, I have seen your fathers, They -- they have gone in to Baal-Peor, And are separated to a shameful thing, And are become abominable like their love.

Ephraim is blighted; its roots shriveled. It can bear no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will kill their cherished offspring.

Surely now shall they say, We have no king; for we fear not Jehovah; and the king, what can he do for us?

The people of Samaria will be full of fear because of the ox of Beth-aven; its people will have sorrow for it, and its priests will give cries of grief for its glory, for the glory has gone in flight.

They have called to them rightly, They have gone from before them, To lords they do sacrifice, And to graven images they make perfume.

But, my people, are bent towards turning from me, though upwards they call them, none of them can lift them.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within Me;
All My compassions are kindled together [for My nation of Israel].

But Ephraim says:
“How rich I have become;
I made it all myself.
In all my earnings,
no one can find any crime in me
that I can be punished for!”

Jacob fled into the land of Aram; Israel served there to obtain his wife, tending sheep to gain his wife.

The abomination of Ephraim is come also into Israel. He is gone back to Baal, therefore must he die.

Yet can I see no comfort, for when he is now the goodliest among the brethren, the East wind, even the wind of the LORD, shall come down from the wilderness, and dry up his conduits, and drink up his wells: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.

Samaria will be made waste, for she has gone against her God: they will be cut down by the sword, their little children will be broken on the rocks, their women who are with child will be cut open.

Assyria can't save us. We won't ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, 'Our gods!' for in you the fatherless finds mercy."

Who [is] wise that he can understand these [things]? Who is discerning that he knows them? The ways of Yahweh [are] right, and [the] righteous walk in them; but transgressors stumble in them.