{At the beginning when Yahweh spoke} through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife and children of whoredom, because the land commits great whoredom {forsaking Yahweh}."

The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or counted; and in the place where it is said to them, "You are not my people," it will be said to them, "Children of [the] living God."

Then she will pursue {her lovers}, but she will not overtake them; she will seek them and not find [them]; and she will say, "I will go and return to my first husband because [it was] better for me then than now."

But she did not know that [it was] I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and who gave her silver in abundance, and gold which they made into a Baal.

From there I will give her her vineyards, and the Valley of Achor as a doorway of hope. And there she will respond, as [in] the days of her youth, just as [in] the day of her coming out of the land of Egypt.

Afterward the children of Israel will return and seek Yahweh their God and David their king. They will come in fear to Yahweh and to his goodness at the end of days.

Swearing and lying, murdering and stealing, and adultery break out, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Therefore the land mourns, and all [those] living in it languish with the animals of the field, and the birds of the heaven, and even the fish of the sea are being swept away.

Yet, let no one contend, and let no one accuse, for with you, O priest, [is my] contention.

You will stumble [by] day, and the priest also will stumble with you at night. And I will destroy your mother;

And it will be like people, like priest; I will punish them [for] their ways, and I will requite them for their deeds.

They will eat and not be satisfied; they will play the whore and not multiply, because they have forsaken Yahweh {to devote themselves to

Hear this, priests! Give heed, house of Israel! Listen, house of the king! Because the judgment [applies] to you; because you have been a snare for Mizpah, and a net spread out on Tabor;

Ephraim will be a desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I will reveal what is true.

The princes of Judah have become like those who remove a landmark; on them I will pour out my wrath like water.

Come, let us return to Yahweh; because [it is] he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck us down and will bind us up.

What will I do with you, Ephraim? What will I do with you, Judah? Your love [is] like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early in the morning.

Like bandits lying in wait, [so is] a band of priests; they murder [on the] road to Shechem; indeed, they commit a monstrous crime.

All of them commit adultery, like a burning oven whose baker has stopped from stirring the fire, and from kneading [the] dough until it is leavened.

[On] the day of our king, the princes became sick [with] the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with mockers.

Because they are kindled like an oven, their heart burns within them; all night their anger {smolders}, [in the] morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

Foreigners devour his strength, and he does not know [it]; {mold} is also sprinkled upon him, and he does not know [it].

They do not cry out to me from their heart, but they wail on their beds; because of grain and new wine they lacerate themselves; they depart from me.

They cry out to me, "My God! We, Israel, know you!"

Because [it is] from Israel, an artisan made it, it [is] not a god; for the calf of Samaria will be broken [to] pieces.

Because they sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind. [The] standing grain does not have heads; it will not yield flour. [And] if it would yield, strangers would devour it.

They offer sacrifices of my choice and they eat flesh; Yahweh does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they will return [to] Egypt.

Israel has forgotten his maker and built palaces, and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send fire on his cities and it will devour her strongholds.

They will not remain in the land of Yahweh. But Ephraim will return [to] Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.

They will not pour [drink offerings of] wine to Yahweh, and their sacrifices will not please him. [They are] like mourners' bread for them; all those who eat it will be defiled. For their bread will be {for their hunger}; it will not come [to] the house of Yahweh.

What will you do on the day of [the] appointed time, and on the day of the festival of Yahweh?

Ephraim's glory [is] like a bird; it will fly away-- no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.

Ephraim, as I see [it], [is] like a palm in a meadow; but Ephraim must bring out his children to the slayer.

Give them, Yahweh-- what will you give [them]? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

Every evil of theirs [began] at Gilgal, so I [began] to hate them there; because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out from my house. I will love them no more; all their officials [are] rebels.

For now they will say, "We have no king; indeed, we did not fear Yahweh, and what can a king do for us?"

The inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, his people will mourn for it, and his idolatrous priests will wail over it-- over its glory because it has departed from it.

It will also be brought to Assyria, [as] tribute to [the] great king. Ephraim will obtain disgrace and Israel will be ashamed from his advice.

Sow for yourselves righteousness; {reap loyal love}. Break up for yourself fallow ground; [it is] time to seek Yahweh so he will come and rain righteousness upon you.

So it will be done to you, Bethel, because of the evil of your wickedness; at dawn, the king of Israel will be utterly destroyed.

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

I drew them {with human ties}, with the bands of love. I was to them like one who lifted up a yoke on their jaws, [though] I bent down to them [and] let them eat.

[The] sword rages in his cities; it consumes his false prophets and devours because of their plans.

My people are bent on backsliding from me. To the Most High they call, he does not raise them at all.

He struggled with [the] angel and prevailed; he pleaded for his mercy. He met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him.

But you, you must return to your God; keep love and justice, and wait continually for your God.

And I will be like a lion to them; I lie in wait beside [the] way, like a leopard.

The labor pains of childbirth come for him; he [is] an unwise son because [at the] proper time, he does not present himself {at the mouth of the womb}.

Although he may flourish among reeds, [the] east wind will come, a wind of Yahweh rising from [the] desert; his fountain will dry up, his spring will be parched. It will plunder his treasury, every object of desire.

His new plant shoots will spread out; his splendor will be like the olive tree, and his scent like the [trees of] Lebanon.

Ephraim, {what have I to do} with idols? I myself have answered and looked after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; your fruit comes from me.