This is the word of the Lord which was revealed to Hosea son of Beeri during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ruled Judah, and during the time when Jeroboam son of Joash ruled Israel.

So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son for him.

When she had weaned 'No Pity' (Lo-Ruhamah) she conceived again and gave birth to another son.

Therefore, I will soon fence her in with thorns; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.

Soon I will expose her lewd nakedness in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to rescue her from me!

They feed on the sin offerings of my people; their appetites long for their iniquity!

Israel has rebelled like a stubborn heifer! Soon the Lord will put them out to pasture like a lamb in a broad field!

They have committed treason against the Lord, because they bore illegitimate children. Soon the new moon festival will devour them and their fields.

I have seen a disgusting thing in the temple of Israel: there Ephraim practices temple prostitution and Judah defiles itself.

whenever I want to heal Israel, the sin of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria are exposed. For they do what is wrong; thieves break into houses, and gangs rob people out in the streets.

Even though they have hired lovers among the nations, I will soon gather them together for judgment. Then they will begin to waste away under the oppression of a mighty king.

Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning!

They offer up sacrificial gifts to me, and eat the meat, but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices. Soon he will remember their wrongdoing, he will punish their sins, and they will return to Egypt.

Their heart is slipping; soon they will be punished for their guilt. The Lord will break their altars; he will completely destroy their fertility pillars.

Very soon they will say, "We have no king since we did not fear the Lord. But what can a king do for us anyway?"

When Israel was a young man, I loved him like a son, and I summoned my son out of Egypt.

Even now they persist in sin! They make metal images for themselves, idols that they skillfully fashion from their own silver; all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen! There is a saying about them: "Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!"

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sin has been your downfall!