The word of Yahweh which came unto Hosea son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, - and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.

but, on the house of Judah, will I have compassion, and I will save them, as Yahweh their God, - but will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by battle, by horses, or by horsemen.

Then shall the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel, gather themselves together, as one, and shall appoint them one head, and come up out of the earth, - for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Contend ye with your mother, contend, for she is no wife of mine, and I am no husband of hers, Let her then put away her paramours from before her, and her partners in adultery, from her embraces:

Lest I strip off her under-clothing, and set her forth to view, as in the day she was born, - and make her like a wilderness, and render her like a land that is parched, and suffer her to die of thirst;

And will lay waste her vine and her fig- tree, as to which she hath said, A present, are they for myself, which my lovers, have given me, - and I will make of them a thicket, and the wild beasts of the field shall devour them.

Then will I give to her her vineyards from thence, and the vale of Achor for a door of hope, - and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

Then said Yahweh unto me, Once more, go love a woman who loveth a friend, and is an adulteress, - according to the love of Yahweh unto the sons of Israel, though they keep turning away unto other gods, and love idolatrous raisin-cakes.

Hear the word of Yahweh, ye sons of Israel, - that, a controversy, hath Yahweh with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness, nor lovingkindness, nor knowledge of God, in the land:

Howbeit let, no man, contend, nor let him rebuke another, - since, thy people, are as they who contend against a priest:

My people, are destroyed, for lack of knowledge, - Because, thou, hast rejected knowledge, therefore will I reject thee from ministering as priest unto me, and, because thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also, will forget thy children.

As they were magnified, so, they sinned against me, - My glory - for what was contemptible, did they exchange.

On the headlands of the mountains, they sacrifice, and, on the hills, burn they incense, under oak and poplar and terebinth, because, pleasant, is the shade thereof: For this cause, do your daughters, become unchaste, and, your brides, commit adultery.

For, as a heifer that is stubborn, hath Israel, been stubborn, - Now, can Yahweh, turn them out to pasture, like a young ram in a wide place?

Mated with idols, is Ephraim, let him alone.

Their doings, will not suffer, them to return unto their God, - for, the spirit of unchastity, is within them, and, Yahweh, have they not known.

Ephraim, shall become, a desolation, in the day of rebuke: Throughout the tribes of Israel, have I hide known what is sure.

The rulers of Judah have become as they who remove a land-mark. Upon them, will I pour out, like water, my wrath.

Oppressed, is Ephraim, crushed in judgment, - because he hath, wilfully, walked after falsehood.

For, I, will be as a lion unto Ephraim, and as a young lion to the house of Judah, - I, I, will tear in pieces, and depart, I will carry off, and none be able to rescue.

Come, and let us return unto Yahweh! for, he, hath torn, that he might heal us, - smitten, that he might bind us up.

He will bring us to life, after two days, - on the third day, will he raise us up, that we may live before him.

Then let us know - let us press on to know - Yahweh, Like the dawn, is his coming forth assured, - that he may come like a down-pour upon us, like the harvest-rain, and the seed-rain of the land.

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!

For this cause, have I hewn them in pieces by the prophets, I have slain them by the sayings of my mouth, - and, my justice, as a light goeth forth.

Gilead, is a city of workers of iniquity, - tracked with blood.

And, like liers in wait for a man, in troops, is a band of priests, on the road, will they murder towards Shechem, - because, a shameful deed, they have done.

In the house of Israel, have I seen a horrible thing, - there, the unchastity of Ephraim, defiled is Israel.

Judah too! a harvest is appointed for thee, - in that I will bring back the captivity of my people.

For they have made ready, like an oven, their heart, by their lying in wait, - all the night, their baker sleepeth, in the morning, he, kindleth up as it were a blazing fire.

They all, become hot as an oven, and devour their judges, - all their kings, have fallen, there hath been none among them crying unto me.

As for Ephraim! with the peoples, hath he been mingling himself, - Ephraim, is a cake not turned.

They would return - not to him who is on high! They have become like a deceitful bow, their rulers, shall fall by the sword, for the rage of their tongue, this, shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Israel hath cast away what is good, - an enemy, shall pursue him.

He hath cast away thy calf, O Samaria, kindled is mine anger upon them, - How long shall they not endure to be innocent?

For, of Israel, is even that thing! A craftsman, made it, and, a No-god, it is! For, into fragments, shall the Calf of Samaria be broken.

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

For, they, have gone up to Assyria, A wild ass going alone for himself, is Ephraim! They have hired lovers!

My sacrificial gifts, have they been sacrificing as common flesh, and have eaten, Yahweh, hath not accepted them, - Now, will he call to mind their iniquity, that he may punish their sin, they, to Egypt, will return.

They shall not dwell in the land of Yahweh, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and, in Assyria - that which is unclean, shall they eat.

They shall not pour out to Yahweh - wine, neither shall they be pleasing to him, their sacrifices, are as the food of mourning to them, all that eat thereof, shall defile themselves, because, their food for their appetite, entereth not into the house of Yahweh.

For, though they have gone from destruction, yet, Egypt, shall gather them, Memphis, shall bury them, - as for their silver favorites! thistles, shall possess them, thorns in their tents.

Come are the days of visitation, come are the days of recompense, Let Israel know! The prophet is foolish, the man of the spirit doth rave, because of the greatness of thine iniquity, therefore great is the prosecution.

The watchman of Ephraim, should have been with my God: As for the prophet, the snare of the fowler, is on all his ways, a prosecution awaiteth him , in the house of his God.

Like grapes in the desert, found I Israel, like the first-ripe in the fig-tree when it is young, saw I your fathers, - they, entered Baal-peor, and devoted themselves to the Shameful Thing, Then became their abominations like their lusts.

As for Ephraim! like a bird, did their glory, fly away, - no birth, and none with child, no conception.

Yea, though they rear their children, yet will I make them childless, till there be no human being, - for it is, nothing less than woe, to them when I depart from them!

Ephraim! just as I provided for Tyre, was planted in a meadow, - yet, Ephraim, must needs bring forth for a murderer his children.

All their wickedness, is in Gilgal, yea, there, have I come to hate them, For the wickedness of their doings - out of my house, will I drive them forth, - no more will I love them, all their rulers, are unruly.

Smitten is Ephraim, their root, hath dried up, fruit, shall they not bear, - yea, though they do bring forth, yet will I slay the darlings of their womb.

A luxuriant vine, is Israel, fruit, beseemeth him, - According to the abundance of his fruit, hath he brought abundance to the altars, according to the goodliness of his land, hath he made goodly statues.

Hypocritical is their heart, Now, shall they be held guilty, - He, will break down their altars, he will destroy their statutes.

For, now, will they say, We have no king, - for we revere not Yahweh, and what could, a king, do for us?

Itself also, to Assyria, shall be borne along, as a present to a hostile king, - shame, shall Ephraim receive, that Israel, may be ashamed, of his own counsel.

Silenced is Samaria: her king, is as a chip on the face of the waters,

So shall the high places of Aven, be destroyed, the sin of Israel, Thorn and prickle, shall come up on their altars, - Therefore shall they say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us.

Therefore shall there arise a tumult among thy peoples, and, all thy fortresses, shall be plundered, as Shalman plundered Beth-arbel, in the day of battle, - the mother, upon her children, dashed to the ground.

How can I give thee up, Ephraim? abandon thee Israel? How can I make thee as Admah? set thee as Zeboim? Mine own heart, turneth against me, at once, are kindled my compassions.

Yea he strove against a Messenger, and prevailed, he wept, and made supplication unto him, - At Bethel, he found him, and, there, he spake with us;

And, Yahweh, is God of host, - Yahweh, is his memorial.

So then Ephraim said, Surely I have gotten me riches, I have found wealth for myself, - in all my toils, they cannot find in me perversity which is sin.

But, I, Yahweh, have been thy God, from the land of Egypt, - I will yet make thee dwell in tents, as in the days of appointed meeting.

And I will lay my word upon the prophets, yea, I myself, have magnified, vision, - and, by the hand of the prophets, will I use similitudes.

If, Gilead, is in sorrow, surely false, have they been, In Gilgal, have they sacrificed, bullocks, - their very altars, shall become as heaps upon the furrows of the field.

Yet, I, Yahweh, have been thy God from the land of Egypt, - and, god beside me, shalt thou not acknowledge, for, saviour, is there none besides me.

Therefore am I become to them as a lion, - As a leopard by the way, do I watch.

I will fall upon them as a bear bereaved, and will read asunder the enclosure of their heart, - that I may devour them there, like a lioness, the wild beast of the field, shall tear them in pieces.

It hath utterly destroyed thee, O Israel, for it was against me, as thy helper!

Where is thy king, then, that he may save thee throughout all thy cities? and thy judges, concerning whom thou saidst, Oh give me a king and rulers?

Bound up, is the iniquity of Ephraim, stored away, his sin.

The pangs of a woman in labour, shall overtake him, - he, is a son, not wise, for, now, he cannot stand still, when children are about to be born.

Out of the hand of hades, will I ransom them, out of death, will I redeem them, - Where is thy pestilence, O death? Where thy plague, O hades? Repentance, shall be hid from mine eyes.

Assyria, shall not save us, Upon horses, will we not ride, neither will we say any more - Our god! to the work of our own hands! For, in thee, shall the fatherless, find compassion.

I will become as the dew unto Israel, he shall break forth as the lily, - and he shall strike his roots as Lebanon:

They who dwell in his shade shall again show life like the corn, and break forth as the vine, - and, the remembrance of him, shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim saith - What to me any more are idols? I, have answered, and have closely observed him, I, am like a fir-tree that is green, From me, is thy fruit 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.