Israel’s Adultery Rebuked

1“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’a

and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’b

2Rebuke your mother,

rebuke her,

for she is not My wife,

and I am not her husband.

Let her remove the adultery from her face

and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.

3Otherwise, I will strip her naked

and expose her like the day of her birth.

I will make her like a desert

and turn her into a parched land,

and I will let her die of thirst.

4I will have no compassion on her children,

because they are the children of adultery.

5For their mother has played the harlot

and has conceived them in disgrace.

For she thought,

‘I will go after my lovers,

who give me bread and water,

wool and linen, oil and drink.’

6Therefore, behold,

I will hedge up her pathc with thorns;

I will enclose her with a wall,

so she cannot find her way.

7She will pursue her lovers but not catch them;

she will seek them but not find them.

Then she will say,

‘I will return to my first husband,

for then I was better off than now.’

8For she does not acknowledge

that it was I who gave her grain,

new wine, and oil,

who lavished on her silver and gold—

which they crafted for Baal.

9Therefore I will take back My grain in its time

and My new wine in its season;

I will take away My wool and linen,

which were given to cover her nakedness.

10And then I will expose her lewdness

in the sight of her lovers,

and no one will deliver her

out of My hands.

11I will put an end to all her exultation:

her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—

all her appointed feasts.

12I will destroy her vines and fig trees,

which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers.

So I will make them into a thicket,

and the beasts of the field will devour them.

13I will punish her for the days of the Baals

when she burned incense to them,

when she decked herself with rings and jewelry,

and went after her lovers.

But Me she forgot,”

declares the LORD.

God’s Mercy to Israel

14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her

and lead her to the wilderness,

and speak to her tenderly.

15There I will give back her vineyards

and make the Valley of Achord

into a gateway of hope.

There she will respond as she did

in the days of her youth,

as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

16In that day,”

declares the LORD,

“you will call Me ‘my Husband,’e

and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’f

17For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals;

no longer will their names be invoked.

18On that day I will make a covenant for them

with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air

and the creatures that crawl on the ground.

And I will abolish bow and sword

and weapons of war in the land,

and will make them lie down in safety.

19So I will betroth you to Me forever;

I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,

in loving devotiong and compassion.

20And I will betroth you in faithfulness,

and you will know the LORD.”

21“On that day I will respond—”

declares the LORD—

“I will respond to the heavens,

and they will respond to the earth.

22And the earth will respond to the grain,

to the new wine and oil,

and they will respond to Jezreel.h

23And I will sow her as My own in the land,

and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’i

I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’j

‘You are My people,’k

and they will say,

‘You are my God.’ ”

Hosea Redeems His Wife
(Zechariah 2:6–13)

1Then the LORD said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by anothera and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and offer raisin cakes to idols.b”

2So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silverc and a homer and a lethech of barley.d 3Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.”

4For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol. 5Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.

God’s Case against His People

1Hear the word of the LORD,

O children of Israel,

for the LORD has a case

against the people of the land:

“There is no truth, no loving devotion,

and no knowledge of God in the land!

2Cursing and lying,

murder and stealing,

and adultery are rampant;

one act of bloodshed follows another.

3Therefore the land mourns,

and all who dwell in it will waste away

with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air;

even the fish of the sea disappear.

4But let no man contend;

let no man offer reproof;

for your people are like those

who contend with a priest.a

5You will stumble by day,

and the prophet will stumble with you by night;

so I will destroy your mother—

6My people are destroyed

for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I will also reject you as My priests.

Since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I will also forget your children.

7The more they multiplied,

the more they sinned against Me;

they exchanged their Gloryb

for a thing of disgrace.

8They feed on the sinsc of My people

and set their hearts on iniquity.

9And it shall be

like people, like priest.

I will punish both of them for their ways

and repay them for their deeds.

10They will eat but not be satisfied;

they will be promiscuous but not multiply.

For they have stopped obeying the LORD.

11Promiscuity, wine, and new wine

take away understanding.

12My people consult their wooden idols,

and their divining rods inform them.

For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray

and they have played the harlot against their God.

13They sacrifice on the mountaintops

and burn offerings on the hills,

under oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because their shade is pleasant.

And so your daughters turn to prostitution

and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

14I will not punish your daughters

when they prostitute themselves,

nor your daughters-in-law

when they commit adultery.

For the men themselves go off with prostitutes

and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes.

So a people without understanding

will come to ruin.

15Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel,

may Judah avoid such guilt!

Do not journey to Gilgal,

do not go up to Beth-aven,d

and do not swear on oath,

‘As surely as the LORD lives!’

16For Israel is as obstinate

as a stubborn heifer.

Can the LORD now shepherd them

like lambs in an open meadow?

17Ephraime is joined to idols;

leave him alone!

18When their liquor is gone,

they turn to prostitution;

their rulersf dearly love disgrace.

19The whirlwind has wrapped themg in its wings,

and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

Judgment on Israel and Judah

1“Hear this, O priests!

Take heed, O house of Israel!

Give ear, O royal house!

For this judgment is against you

because you have been a snare at Mizpah,

a net spread out on Tabor.

2The rebels are deep in slaughter;

but I will chastise them all.

3I know all about Ephraim,a

and Israel is not hidden from Me.

For now, O Ephraim,

you have turned to prostitution;

Israel is defiled.

4Their deeds do not permit them

to return to their God,

for a spirit of prostitution is within them,

and they do not know the LORD.

5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;

Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;

even Judah stumbles with them.

6They go with their flocks and herds

to seek the LORD,

but they do not find Him;

He has withdrawn Himself from them.

7They have been unfaithful to the LORD;

for they have borne illegitimate children.

Now the New Moonb will devour them

along with their land.

8Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,

the trumpet in Ramah;

raise the battle cry in Beth-aven:c

Lead on, O Benjamin!

9Ephraim will be laid waste

on the day of rebuke.

Among the tribes of Israel

I proclaim what is certain.

10The princes of Judah

are like those who move boundary stones;d

I will pour out My fury

upon them like water.

11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,

for he is determined to follow worthless idols.e

12So I am like a moth to Ephraim,

and like decay to the house of Judah.

13When Ephraim saw his sickness

and Judah his wound,

then Ephraim turned to Assyria

and sent to the great king.f

But he cannot cure you

or heal your wound.

14For I am like a lion to Ephraim

and like a young lion to the house of Judah.

I, even I, will tear them to pieces

and then go away.

I will carry them off

where no one can rescue them.

15Then I will return to My place

until they admit their guilt and seek My face;

in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

The Unrepentance of Israel and Judah

1Come, let us return to the LORD.

For He has torn us to pieces,

but He will heal us;

He has wounded us,

but He will bind up our wounds.

2After two days He will revive us;

on the third day He will raise us up,

that we may live in His presence.

3So let us know—

let us press on to know the LORD.

As surely as the sun rises,

He will appear;

He will come to us like the rain,

like the spring showers that water the earth.

4What shall I do with you, O Ephraima?

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

For your loyalty is like a morning mist,

like the early dew that vanishes.

5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

I have slain them by the words of My mouth,

and My judgments go forth like lightning.

6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,b

and the knowledge of God

rather than burnt offerings.

7But they, like Adam, have transgressedc the covenant;

there they were unfaithful to Me.

8Gilead is a city of evildoers,

tracked with footprints of blood.

9Like raiders who lie in ambush,

so does a band of priests;

they murder on the way to Shechem;

surely they have committed atrocities.

10In the house of Israel

I have seen a horrible thing:

Ephraim practices prostitution there,

and Israel is defiled.

11Also for you, O Judah,

a harvest is appointed,

when I restore

My people from captivity.d

Ephraim’s Iniquity

1When I heal Israel,

the iniquity of Ephraima will be exposed,

as well as the crimes of Samaria.

For they practice deceit and thieves break in;

bandits raid in the streets.

2But they fail to consider in their hearts

that I remember all their evil.

Now their deeds are all around them;

they are before My face.

3They delight the king with their evil,

and the princes with their lies.

4They are all adulterers,

like an oven heated by a baker

who needs not stoke the fire

from the kneading to the rising of the dough.

5The princes are inflamed with wine

on the day of our king;

so he joins hands

with those who mock him.

6For they prepare their heart like an oven

while they lie in wait;

all night their anger smolders;b

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

7All of them are hot as an oven,

and they devour their rulers.

All their kings fall;

not one of them calls upon Me.

8Ephraim mixes with the nations;

Ephraim is an unturned cake.

9Foreigners consume his strength,

but he does not notice.

Even his hair is streaked with gray,

but he does not know.

10Israel’s arrogance testifies against them,

yet they do not return to the LORD their God;

despite all this, they do not seek Him.

11So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—

calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.

12As they go, I will spread My net over them;

I will bring them down like birds of the air.

I will chastise them

when I hear them flocking together.c

13Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me!

Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me!

Though I would redeem them,

they speak lies against Me.

14They do not cry out to Me from their hearts

when they wail upon their beds.

They slash themselvesd for grain and new wine,

but turn away from Me.

15Although I trained and strengthened their arms,

they plot evil against Me.

16They turn, but not to the Most High;

they are like a faulty bow.

Their leaders will fall by the sword

for the cursing of their tongue;

for this they will be ridiculed

in the land of Egypt.

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

1Put the ram’s horn to your lips!

An eagle looms over the house of the LORD,

because the people have transgressed My covenant

and rebelled against My law.

2Israel cries out to Me,

“O our God, we know You!”

3But Israel has rejected good;

an enemy will pursue him.

4They set up kings, but not by Me.

They make princes, but without My approval.

With their silver and gold they make themselves idols,

to their own destruction.

5He has rejected your calf,a O Samaria.

My anger burns against them.

How long will they be

incapable of innocence?

6For this thing is from Israel—

a craftsman made it, and it is not God.

It will be broken to pieces,

that calf of Samaria.

7For they sow the wind,

and they shall reap the whirlwind.

There is no standing grain;

what sprouts fails to yield flour.

Even if it should produce,

the foreigners would swallow it up.

8Israel is swallowed up!

Now they are among the nations

like a worthless vessel.

9For they have gone up to Assyria

like a wild donkey on its own.

Ephraimb has hired lovers.

10Though they hire allies among the nations,

I will now round them up,

and they will begin to diminish

under the oppression of the king of princes.

11Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin,

they became his altars for sinning.

12Though I wrote for them the great things of My law,

they regarded them as something strange.

13Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me,

and though they eat the meat,

the LORD does not accept them.

Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins:

They will return to Egypt.

14Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;

Judah has multiplied its fortified cities.

But I will send fire upon their cities,

and it will consume their citadels.

5 a Or calf idol ; see 1 Kings 12:29.
9 b That is, the northern kingdom of Israel; also in verse 11

Israel’s Punishment

1Do not rejoice, O Israel,

with exultation like the nations,

for you have played the harlot against your God;

you have made love for hire on every threshing floor.

2The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them,

and the new wine will fail them.

3They will not remain

in the land of the LORD;

Ephraima will return to Egypt

and eat unclean food in Assyria.

4They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD,

and their sacrifices will not please Him,

but will be to them like the bread of mourners;

all who eat will be defiled.

For their bread will be for themselves;

it will not enter the house of the LORD.

5What will you do on the appointed day,

on the day of the LORD’s feast?

6For even if they flee destruction,

Egypt will gather them

and Memphis will bury them.

Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles,

and thorns will overrun their tents.

7The days of punishment have come;

the days of retribution have arrived—

let Israel know it.

The prophet is called a fool,

and the inspired man insane,

because of the greatness

of your iniquity and hostility.

8The prophet is Ephraim’s watchman,

along with my God,b

yet the snare of the fowler lies on all his paths.

Hostility is in the house of his God!

9They have deeply corrupted themselves

as in the days of Gibeah;

He will remember their guilt;

He will punish their sins.

10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.

I saw your fathers as the firstfruits

of the fig tree in its first season.

But they went to Baal-peor,

and consecrated themselves to Shame;

so they became as detestable

as the thing they loved.

11Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird,

with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.

12Even if they raise their children,

I will bereave them of each one.

Yes, woe be to them

when I turn away from them!

13I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre,

planted in a meadow.

But Ephraim will bring out

his children for slaughter.

14Give them, O LORD—

what will You give?

Give them wombs that miscarry

and breasts that dry up!

15All their evil appears at Gilgal,

for there I hated them.

I will drive them from My house

for the wickedness of their deeds.

I will no longer love them;

all their leaders are rebellious.

16Ephraim is struck down;

their root is withered;

they cannot bear fruit.

Even if they bear children,

I will slay the darlings of their wombs.

17My God will reject them

because they have not obeyed Him;

and they shall be wanderers

among the nations.

Retribution for Israel’s Sin

1Israel was a luxuriant vine,

yielding fruit for himself.

The more his fruit increased,

the more he increased the altars.

The better his land produced,

the better he made the sacred pillars.

2Their hearts are devious;

now they must bear their guilt.

The LORD will break down their altars

and demolish their sacred pillars.

3Surely now they will say,

“We have no king,

for we do not revere the LORD.

What can a king do for us?”

4They speak mere words;

with false oaths they make covenants.

So judgment springs up

like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

5The people of Samaria will fear

for the calf of Beth-aven.a

Indeed, its people will mourn

with its idolatrous priests—

those who rejoiced in its glory—

for it has been taken from them into exile.

6Yes, it will be carried to Assyria

as tribute to the great king.b

Ephraimc will be seized with shame;

Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.d

7Samaria will be carried off with her king

like a twig on the surface of the water.

8The high places of Avene will be destroyed—

it is the sin of Israel;

thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars.

Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”

and to the hills, “Fall on us!”f

9Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel,

and there you have remained.

Did not the battle in Gibeah

overtake the sons of iniquity?g

10I will chasten them when I please;

nations will be gathered against them

to put them in bondage

for their double transgression.

11Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh;

but I will place a yoke on her fair neck.

I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow,

and Jacob will break the hard ground.

12Sow for yourselves righteousness

and reap the fruit of loving devotion;

break up your unplowed ground.

For it is time to seek the LORD

until He comes and sends righteousness

upon you like rain.

13You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;

you have eaten the fruit of lies.

Because you have trusted in your own way

and in the multitude of your mighty men,

14the roar of battle will rise against your people,

so that all your fortresses will be demolished

as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel

in the day of battle,

when mothers were dashed to pieces

along with their children.

15Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel,

because of your great wickedness.

When the day dawns,

the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.

Out of Egypt I Called My Son
(Matthew 2:13–15)

1When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called My son.a

2But the more I called Israel,

the farther they departed from Me.b

They sacrificed to the Baals

and burned incense to carved images.

3It was I who taught Ephraimc to walk,

taking them in My arms,

but they never realized

that it was I who healed them.

4I led them with cords of kindness,

with ropes of love;

I lifted the yoke from their necks

and bent down to feed them.

5Will they not return to the land of Egypt

and be ruled by Assyria

because they refused to repent?

6A sword will flash through their cities;

it will destroy the bars of their gates

and consume them in their own plans.

7My people are bent on turning from Me.

Though they call to the Most High,

He will by no means exalt them.

God’s Love for Israel

8How could I give you up, O Ephraim?

How could I surrender you, O Israel?

How could I make you like Admah?

How could I treat you like Zeboiim?

My heart is turned within Me;

My compassion is stirred!

9I will not execute the full fury of My anger;

I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.

For I am God and not man—

the Holy One among you—

and I will not come in wrath.

10They will walk after the LORD;

He will roar like a lion.

When He roars,

His children will come trembling from the west.

11They will come trembling like birds from Egypt

and like doves from the land of Assyria.

Then I will settle them in their homes,

declares the LORD.

12Ephraim surrounds Me with lies,

the house of Israel with deceit;

but Judah still walks with God

and is faithful to the Holy One.d

A Reproof of Ephraim, Judah, and Jacob

1Ephraima chases the wind

and pursues the east wind all day long;

he multiplies lies and violence;

he makes a covenant with Assyria

and sends olive oil to Egypt.

2The LORD also brings a charge against Judah.

He will punish Jacobb according to his ways

and repay him according to his deeds.

3In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,

and in his vigor he wrestled with God.

4Yes, he struggled with the angelc and prevailed;

he wept and sought His favor;

he found Him at Bethel

and spoke with Him thered —

5the LORD is the God of Hosts—

the LORD is His name of renown.

6But you must return to your God,

maintaining love and justice,

and always waiting on your God.

7A merchant loves to defraud

with dishonest scales in his hands.

8And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become!

I have found wealth for myself.

In all my labors, they can find in me

no iniquity that is sinful.”

9But I am the LORD your God

ever since the land of Egypt.

I will again make you dwell in tents,

as in the days of the appointed feast.

10I spoke through the prophets

and multiplied their visions;

I gave parables through the prophets.

11Is there iniquity in Gilead?

They will surely come to nothing.

Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?

Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones

in the furrows of the field.

12Jacob fled to the land of Arame

and Israel worked for a wife—

for a wife he tended sheep.

13But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,

and by a prophet he was preserved.

14Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,

so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him

and repay him for his contempt.

God’s Anger against Israel

1When Ephraima spoke, there was trembling;

he was exalted in Israel.

But he incurred guilt through Baal,

and he died.

2Now they sin more and more

and make for themselves cast images,

idols skillfully made from their silver,

all of them the work of craftsmen.

People say of them,

“They offer human sacrifice

and kiss the calves!”b

3Therefore they will be like the morning mist,

like the early dew that vanishes,

like chaff blown from a threshing floor,

like smoke through an open window.

4Yet I am the LORD your God

ever since the land of Egypt;

you know no God but Me,

for there is no Savior besides Me.

5I knew you in the wilderness,

in the land of drought.

6When they had pasture,

they became satisfied;

when they were satisfied,

their hearts became proud,

and as a result they forgot Me.

7So like a lion I will pounce on them;

like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

8Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them,

and I will tear open their chests.

There I will devour them like a lion,

like a wild beast would tear them apart.

Death and Resurrection
(1 Corinthians 15:50–58)

9You are destroyed, O Israel,

because you are against Me—

against your helper.

10Where is your king nowc

to save you in all your cities,

and the rulers to whom you said,

“Give me a king and princes”?

11So in My anger I gave you a king,

and in My wrath I took him away.

12The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;

his sin is stored up.

13Labor pains come upon him,

but he is an unwise son.

When the time arrives,

he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb.

14I will ransom them from the power of Sheol;

I will redeem them from Death.d

Where, O Death, are your plagues?

Where, O Sheol, is your sting?e

Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

Judgment on Samaria

15Although he flourishes among his brothers,

an east wind will come—

a wind from the LORD

rising up from the desert.

His fountain will fail,

and his spring will run dry.

The wind will plunder his treasury

of every precious article.

16Samaria will bear her guilt

because she has rebelled against her God.

They will fall by the sword;

their little ones will be dashed to pieces,

and their pregnant women ripped open.

A Call to Repentance
(Jeremiah 3:11–25; Zechariah 1:1–6)

1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,

for you have stumbled by your iniquity.

2Bring your confessions

and return to the LORD.

Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity

and receive us graciously,

that we may present

the fruit of our lips.a

3Assyria will not save us,

nor will we ride on horses.

We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’

to the work of our own hands.

For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

A Promise of God’s Blessing

4I will heal their apostasy;

I will freely love them,

for My anger has turned away from them.

5I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like the lily

and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

6His shoots will sprout,

and his splendor will be like the olive tree,

his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.

7They will return and dwell in his shade;

they will grow grain and blossom like the vine.

His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8O Ephraim,b what have I to do

anymore with idols?

It is I who answer and watch over him.

I am like a flourishing cypress;c

your fruit comes from Me.

9Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;

whoever is discerning, let him know them.

For the ways of the LORD are right,

and the righteous walk in them

but the rebellious stumble in them.