A word of Jehovah that hath been 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:

The beginning of the word of Yahweh with Hosea, was, - that Yahweh said unto Hosea, Go take thee a woman of unchastity, and the children of unchastity, for, unchastely indeed, hath the land been going away from following Yahweh.

and it hath come to pass in that day that I have broken the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.'

and the number of the sons of Israel hath been as the sand of the sea, that is not measured nor numbered, and it hath come to pass in the place where it is said to them, Ye are not My people, it is said to them, Sons of the Living God;

For their mother, hath been unchaste, and she that conceived them, hath caused shame, - for she said, Let me go after my lovers! who used to give my bread, and my water, my wool, and my flax, mine oil, and my drink.

And she hath pursued her lovers, And she doth not overtake them, And hath sought them, and doth not find, And she hath said: I go, and I turn back unto My first husband, For -- better to me then than now.

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.

And given to her her vineyards from thence, And the valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she hath responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.

And it hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah, Thou dost call Me -- My husband, And dost not call Me any more -- My lord.

And it hath come to pass in that day, I answer -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I answer the heavens, and they answer the earth.

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:

Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery -- have increased, And blood against blood hath touched.

And thou hast stumbled in the day, And stumbled hath also a prophet with thee in the night, And I have cut off thy mother.

And it hath been, like people, like priest, And I have charged on it its ways, And its habitual doings I return to it.

My people, of their Wood, do ask, - Let, their Staff, then tell them, - for, the spirit of unchastity, hath led them astray, and they have unchastely departed from under their God.

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?

Their drunkenness hath put them back, and brought them to whoredom. Their rulers love rewards; "Bring," say they, to their own shame.

The wind hath bound her up in its wings, - that they may be ashamed, because of their sacrifices.

I, have known Ephraim, and, Israel, hath not been hidden from me, - for, now, hast thou committed unchastity, O Ephraim, Israel, hath made himself impure.

Therefore will the Excellency of Israel, answer, to his face, - and, Israel and Ephraim, shall stumble in their iniquity, even Judah with them, hath stumbled.

With their flocks and with their herds, will they go to seek Yahweh, but shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

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

When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sore, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb; but he was unable to heal you, nor hath he removed your sore.

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

He hath wounded us, and he shall bind us up again; after two days shall he quicken us, in the third day he shall raise us up, so that we shall live in his sight.

Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.

'When I give healing to Israel, Then revealed is the iniquity of Ephraim, And the wickedness of Samaria, For they have wrought falsehood, And a thief doth come in, Stript off hath a troop in the street,

They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

In the day of our king, the rulers, have made themselves ill, with the heat of wine, - he hath extended his hand with scoffers.

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.

Devoured have strangers his power, And he hath not known, Also old age hath sprinkled itself on him, And he hath not known.

And humbled hath been the excellency of Israel to his face, And they have not turned back unto Jehovah their God, Nor have they sought Him for all this.

So then, Ephraim, hath become, like a simple dove, having no understanding, on Egypt, have they called, to Assyria, have they gone,

When they go I spread over them My net, As the fowl of the heavens I bring them down, I chastise them as their company hath heard.

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, to the wind, they sow, and, to the whirlwind, they reap: stalk, hath it none, That which shooteth forth, shall yield no meal, If so be it yield, foreigners, swallow it lip,

Israel hath been swallowed up, Now they have been among nations, As a vessel in which is no delight.

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

Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars sinfully, they have become to him the altars of sin.

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.

And so Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and hath built temples, and, Judah, hath multiplied fortified cities, - Therefore will I send a fire upon his cities, and it shall consume the palaces thereof.

They do not abide in the land of Jehovah, And turned back hath Ephraim to Egypt, And in Asshur an unclean thing they eat.

The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the man that hath the spirit is mad, for the abundance of thine iniquity, and because the enmity is great.

There is great hate against the watchman of Ephraim, the people of my God; as for the prophet, there is a net in all his ways, and hate in the house of his God.

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.

My God hath rejected them, because they hearkened not unto him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

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.

Their heart hath been divided, now they are guilty, He doth break down their altars, He doth destroy their standing-pillars.

They have spoken words, To swear falsehood in making a covenant, And flourished as a poisonous herb hath judgment, on the furrows of a field.

About the calves of Beth-aven, will the inhabitant of Samaria be concerned, - for the people thereof, have mourned over it, and, the ascetics thereof, who, over it, used to exult, shall mourn for the glory thereof, because it hath departed therefrom.

Even so, hath Bethel, done to you, because of your exceeding wickedness, - in the dawn, shall the king of Israel be, utterly silenced.

Grievous hath been the sword in his cities, And it hath ended his bars, and consumed -- from their own counsels.

My people hath no lust to turn unto me, their prophets lay the yoke upon them, but they ease them not of their burden.

They have compassed me about - with denial, Ephraim, with deceit, the house of Israel, - but, Judah, hath, again and again, run riot with GOD, though, with the holy places, entrusted.

But, a controversy, hath Yahweh with Judah, - so that he may bring punishment on Jacob, according to his ways, According to his doings, repay him.

Canaan! in his hand are balances of deceit! To oppress he hath loved.

And Jacob doth flee to the country of Aram, And Israel doth serve for a wife, Yea, for a wife he hath kept watch.

And by a prophet hath Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet it hath been watched.

Ephraim hath provoked, very bitterly, - his own blood, therefore, upon him, will he leave, and, his reproach, shall his Lord, bring back to him.

When Ephraim speaketh tremblingly, He hath been lifted up in Israel, When he becometh guilty in Baal he dieth.

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

Samaria, shall be held guilty, for she hath rebelled against her God, By the sword, shall they fall, their infants, shall be dashed to the ground, and, his women with child, shall be ripped up.

I will heal their apostacy, I will love them freely, - for mine anger, hath turned, from them.

Go on do his sucklings, And his beauty is as an olive, And he hath fragrance as Lebanon.

Who is wise to understand these things and hath wit to perceive them? For the ways of the LORD are straight, and the righteous shall walk in them: but the wicked shall tumble in them.