The Word of Jehovah that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

Yet the number of the sons of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. And it shall be, in the place where it was said to them, You are not My people, there it shall be said to them, You are the sons of the living God.

Contend! Contend with your mother, for she is not my wife, nor am I her husband. Let her therefore put away her fornications out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts,

lest I strip her naked and set her out as in the day that she was born; and lest I make her as the wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

And I will give her vineyards to her from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope. And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

Hear the Word of Jehovah, sons of Israel. For Jehovah has a quarrel with the people of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

There is lying, and swearing, and killing, and stealing, and the committing of adultery; and blood touches blood.

Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another. For your people are as those who strive with the priest.

As they were increased, so they sinned against Me. I will change their glory into shame.

They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because its shade is good. So your daughters shall be harlots, and your brides shall commit adultery.

Though you, Israel, fornicate, yet do not let Judah become guilty. And do not come to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah lives.

For Israel slides back like a backsliding heifer. Now Jehovah will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.

Their drink is sour; they are continually fornicating; her rulers dearly love shame.

Hear this, O priests, and listen, house of Israel. And give ear, house of the king. For judgment is toward you, because you have been a snare on Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me. For now, O Ephraim, you have fornicated; Israel is defiled.

Their doings will not allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of fornication is in their midst, and they have not known Jehovah.

Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I have made known that which is confirmed.

Ephraim is crushed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

Therefore I am as a moth to Ephraim, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

For I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a strong lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away. I will take away, and none shall rescue him.

Come and let us return to Jehovah. For He has torn, and He will heal us; He has stricken, and He will bind us up.

After two days He will bring us to life; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.

Then we shall know, if we follow on to know Jehovah. His going out is prepared as the morning; and He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth.

O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your goodness is like a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goes away.

So I have cut them down by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth. And your judgments were as the light that goes forth.

Gilead is a city of trouble-makers, slippery with blood marks.

And as troops of robbers wait for a man, the company of priests murder in the way of Shechem; for they committed wickedness.

I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel; the harlotry of Ephraim is there; Israel is defiled.

Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed to you, when I return the captivity of My people.

They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by the baker; he stops stirring, from kneading the dough, while it is leavened.

They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges. All their kings have fallen; there is none among them who calls to Me.

Ephraim mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart; they call to Egypt; they go to Assyria.

When they go, I will spread My net on them; I will bring them down like the birds of the heavens; I will chastise them, as a report to their congregation.

Your calf, O Samaria, has cast you off. My anger is kindled against them. Until when will they not attain purity?

For from Israel it came also. The craftsman made it, but it is not God. For the calf of Samaria shall be splinters.

Israel is swallowed up; now they shall be among the nations as a vessel in which there is no pleasure.

For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself. Ephraim has hired lovers.

I have written to him the great things of My Law, but they were counted as a strange thing.

They shall not pour wine to Jehovah, nor shall they be pleasing to Him. Their sacrifices shall be like the bread of sorrows to them; all who eat of them shall be defiled. For their bread is for their soul, it shall not come into the house of Jehovah.

The days of her judgment have come; the days of vengeance have come; Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and the great hatred.

The watchman of Ephraim was with my God. The prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.

They have deeply corrupted, as in days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first-fruit in the fig tree at her first time. But they went to Baal-peor and set themselves apart to a shameful thing; and they became abominable like that which they loved.

Ephraim is like a bird; their glory shall fly away from birth, and from the womb, and from conception.

All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them out of My house for the wickedness of their doings. I will love them no more; all their rulers are revolters.

Ephraim is stricken; their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit. Yea, though they bear, yet I will slay the beloved ones of their womb.

Israel is a luxuriant vine; he brings out fruit to himself. According to the multitude of his fruit, he has increased the altars. They have made beautiful images according to the goodness of his land.

Their heart is divided; now they shall be guilty. He shall break down their altars, and He shall spoil their images.

For now they shall say, We have no king because we did not fear Jehovah; what then should a king do to us?

As for Samaria, her king is cut off as a bough on the water.

Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us.

And Ephraim is like a trained heifer, trying to tread out. But I passed over on the goodness of her neck. I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground. For it is time to seek Jehovah, until He comes and rains righteousness on you.

And an uproar shall arise among your peoples, and all your fortresses shall be spoiled, as the ruin of Beth-arbel by Shalman in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces on her sons.

As they called them, so they went from them. They sacrifice to the Baals, and burn incense to graven images.

I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love; and I was to them as those who take off the yoke on their jaws, and I gently give food to him.

How shall I give you up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver you, Israel? How shall I make you like Admah? How shall I set you as Zeboim? My heart is turned within Me; My compassions are kindled together.

Ephraim circles around Me with lying, and the house of Israel with deceit. But Judah still rules with God, and is faithful with the saints.

Ephraim feeds on wind and follows after the east wind. He daily multiplies lies and cruelty. And they make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.

Yes, he wept and cried to Him, and he had power over the Angel and overcame. He found him in Bethel, and there He spoke with us,

even Jehovah, the God of Hosts. Jehovah is His memorial.

He is a merchant; the scales of deceit are in his hand; he loves to oppress.

And Ephraim said, Yet I have become rich, I have found much wealth for myself. In all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.

And I Jehovah, who have been your God from the land of Egypt, will yet make you to dwell in tents as in the days of the appointed feast.

Is there iniquity in Gilead? Surely they are vanity; they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal. Yes, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.

Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passes away, as the chaff storm-driven out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

Yet I am Jehovah your God from the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me. For there is no Savior besides Me.

Therefore I will be as a lion to them; as a leopard by the way I will watch them.

O Israel, you have destroyed yourself; but in Me is your help.

Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities; and your judges of whom you said, Give me a king and rulers?

The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin hidden.

The pains of a woman in travail shall come to him. He is an unwise son; for he cannot stand still in the time of the breaking forth of sons.

I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, where are your plagues; O Grave, where is your ruin! Repentance shall be hidden from My eyes.

Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind shall come. The wind of Jehovah shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall be ashamed, and his fountain shall be dried up. He shall plunder the treasure of all desirable vessels.

Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah. Say to Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously, that we may repay with the calves of our lips.

Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses. Nor shall we say any more to the work of our hands, Our gods, for in You the fatherless finds mercy.

I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall grow as the lily and cast out his roots like Lebanon.

His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

They who dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive like the grain, and grow like the vine. Their scent shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him and watched him; I am like a green fir tree. Your fruit is found from Me.

Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? Understanding, and he shall know them? For the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but sinners shall fall in them.