Chapter 3

Hosea’s Second Symbolic Marriage

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a 1woman who is loved by her 2husband, yet an adulteress, even aas the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin bcakes.”

2 So I abought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a 1half of barley.

3 Then I said to her, “You shall astay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a 1man; so I will also be toward you.”

4 For the sons of Israel will remain for many days awithout king or prince, bwithout sacrifice or sacred cpillar and without dephod or 1ehousehold idols.

5 Afterward the sons of Israel will areturn and seek the Lord their God and bDavid their king; and cthey will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.

Chapter 4

God’s Controversy with Israel

1 aListen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel,

For the Lord has a bcase against the inhabitants of the land,

Because there is cno 1faithfulness or 2kindness

Or dknowledge of God in the land.

2 There is aswearing, bdeception, cmurder, dstealing and eadultery.

They employ violence, so that fbloodshed 1follows bloodshed.

3 Therefore the land amourns,

And everyone who lives in it languishes

Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,

And also the fish of the sea 1disappear.

4 Yet let no one 1afind fault, and let none offer reproof;

For your people are like those who bcontend with the priest.

5 So you will astumble by day,

And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;

And I will destroy your bmother.

6 aMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have brejected knowledge,

I also will creject you from being My priest.

Since you have dforgotten the elaw of your God,

I also will forget your children.

7 The more they amultiplied, the more they sinned against Me;

I will bchange their glory into shame.

8 They afeed on the 1sin of My people

And bdirect their desire toward their iniquity.

9 And it will be, like people, alike priest;

So I will bpunish them for their ways

And repay them for their deeds.

10 aThey will eat, but not have enough;

They will bplay the harlot, but not increase,

Because they have 1cstopped giving heed to the Lord.

11 Harlotry, awine and new wine take away the 1understanding.

12 My people aconsult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;

For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,

And they have played the harlot, departing 1from their God.

13 They offer sacrifices on the atops of the mountains

And 1bburn incense on the hills,

cUnder oak, poplar and terebinth,

Because their shade is pleasant.

Therefore your daughters play the harlot

And your 2brides commit adultery.

14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot

Or your 1brides when they commit adultery,

For the men themselves go apart with harlots

And offer sacrifices with atemple prostitutes;

So the people without understanding are 2ruined.

15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot,

Do not let Judah become guilty;

Also do not go to aGilgal,

Or go up to Beth-aven

bAnd take the oath:

“As the Lord lives!”

16 Since Israel is astubborn

Like a stubborn heifer,

1Can the Lord now bpasture them

Like a lamb in a large field?

17 Ephraim is joined to aidols;

bLet him alone.

18 Their liquor gone,

They play the harlot continually;

aTheir 1rulers dearly love shame.

19 aThe wind wraps them in its wings,

And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Chapter 5

The People’s Apostasy Rebuked

1 Hear this, O priests!

Give heed, O house of Israel!

Listen, O house of the king!

For the judgment applies to you,

For you have been a asnare at Mizpah

And a net spread out on Tabor.

2 The arevolters have 1bgone deep in depravity,

But I will chastise all of them.

3 I aknow Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;

For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot,

Israel has defiled itself.

4 Their deeds will not allow them

To return to their God.

For a aspirit of harlotry is within them,

And they bdo not know the Lord.

5 Moreover, the apride of Israel testifies against him,

And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;

bJudah also has stumbled with them.

6 They will ago with their flocks and herds

To seek the Lord, but they will bnot find Him;

He has cwithdrawn from them.

7 They have adealt treacherously against the Lord,

For they have borne 1billegitimate children.

Now the cnew moon will devour them with their 2land.

8 aBlow the horn in bGibeah,

The trumpet in Ramah.

Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:

“cBehind you, Benjamin!”

9 Ephraim will become a adesolation in the bday of rebuke;

Among the tribes of Israel I cdeclare what is sure.

10 The princes of Judah have become like those who amove a boundary;

On them I will bpour out My wrath clike water.

11 Ephraim is aoppressed, crushed in judgment,

bBecause he was determined to 1follow man’s command.

12 Therefore I am like a amoth to Ephraim

And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,

And Judah his 1wound,

Then Ephraim went to aAssyria

And sent to 2bKing Jareb.

But he is cunable to heal you,

Or to cure you of your 1wound.

14 For I will be alike a lion to Ephraim

And like a young lion to the house of Judah.

bI, even I, will tear to pieces and go away,

I will carry away, and there will be cnone to deliver.

15 I will go away and return to My place

Until they 1aacknowledge their guilt and seek My face;

In their affliction they will earnestly bseek Me.