Hosea 8

1 A trumpet to your lips, You who watch over the house of the LORD! Since they have violated my covenant, and sinned against my law,
2 While to me they cry out, O, God of Israel, we know you!
3 The men of Israel have thrown away what is good; the enemy shall pursue them.
4 They made kings, but not by my authority; they established princes, but without my approval. With their silver and gold they made idols for themselves, to their own destruction.
5 Cast away your calf, O Samaria! my wrath is kindled against them; How long will they be unable to attain innocence in Israel?
6 The work of an artisan no god at all, Destined for the flames--such is the calf of Samaria!
7 When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind; The stalk of grain that forms no ear can yield no flour; Even if it could, strangers would swallow it.
8 Israel is swallowed up; he is now among the nations a thing of no value.
9 They went up to Assyria--a wild ass off on its own--Ephraim bargained for lovers.
10 Even though they bargain with the nations, I will now gather an army; King and princes shall shortly succumb under the burden.
11 When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin, his altars became occasions of sin.
12 Though I write for him my many ordinances, they are considered as a stranger's.
13 Though they offer sacrifice, immolate flesh and eat it, the LORD is not pleased with them. He shall still remember their guilt and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his maker and built palaces. Judah, too, has fortified many cities, but I will send fire upon his cities, to devour their castles.

Hosea 9

1 Rejoice not, O Israel, exult not like the nations! For you have been unfaithful to your God, loving a harlot's hire upon every threshing floor.
2 Threshing floor and wine press shall not nourish them, the new wine shall fail them.
3 They shall not dwell in the LORD'S land; Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and in Assyria they shall eat unclean food.
4 They shall not pour libations of wine to the LORD, or proffer their sacrifices before him. Theirs will be like mourners' bread, that makes unclean all who eat of it; Such food as they have shall be for themselves; it cannot enter the house of the LORD.
5 What will you do on the festival day, the day of the LORD'S feast?
6 When they go from the ruins, Egypt shall gather them in, Memphis shall bury them. Weeds shall overgrow their silver treasures, and thorns invade their tents.
7 They have come, the days of punishment! they have come, the days of recompense! Let Israel know it! The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is mad! Because your iniquity is great, great, too, is your hostility.
8 A prophet is Ephraim's watchman with God, yet a fowler's snare is on all his ways, hostility in the house of his God.
9 They have sunk to the depths of corruption, as in the days of Gibeah; He shall remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
10 Like grapes in the desert, I found Israel; Like the first fruits of the fig tree in its prime, I considered your fathers. When they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to the Shame, they became as abhorrent as the thing they loved.
11 The glory of Ephraim flies away like a bird: no birth, no carrying in the womb, no conception. Were they to bear children, I would slay the darlings of their womb.
12 Even though they bring up their children, I will make them childless, till not one is left. Woe to them when I turn away from them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw, was like Tyre, planted in a beauteous spot; But Ephraim shall bring out his children to the slayer.
14 Give them, O LORD! give them what? Give them an unfruitful womb, and dry breasts!
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal; yes, there they incurred my hatred. Because of their wicked deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no longer; all their princes are rebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit.
17 My God will disown them because they have not listened to him; they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Hosea 10

1 Israel is a luxuriant vine whose fruit matches its growth. The more abundant his fruit, the more altars he built; The more productive his land, the more sacred pillars he set up.
2 Their heart is false, now they pay for their guilt; God shall break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars.
3 If they would say, We have no king--Since they do not fear the LORD, what can the king do for them?
4 Nothing but make promises, swear false oaths, and make alliances, While justice grows wild like wormwood in a plowed field!
5 The inhabitants of Samaria fear for the calf of Beth-aven; The people mourn for it and its priests wail over it, because the glory has departed from it.
6 It too shall be carried to Assyria, as an offering to the great king. Ephraim shall be taken into captivity, Israel be shamed by his schemes.
7 The king of Samaria shall disappear, like foam upon the waters.
8 The high places of Aven shall be destroyed, the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles shall overgrow their altars. Then they shall cry out to the mountains, Cover us! and to the hills, Fall upon us!
9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel. There they took their stand; war was not to reach them in Gibeah.
10 Against the wanton people I came and I chastised them; I gathered troops against them when I chastised them for their two crimes.
11 Ephraim was a trained heifer, willing to thresh; I myself laid a yoke upon her fair neck; Ephraim was to be harnessed, Judah was to plow, Jacob was to break his furrows:
12 Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety; Break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain down justice upon you.
13 But you have cultivated wickedness, reaped perversity, and eaten the fruit of falsehood. Because you have trusted in your chariots, and in your many warriors,
14 Turmoil shall break out among your tribes and all your fortresses shall be ravaged As Salman ravaged Beth-arbel in time of war, smashing mothers and their children.
15 So shall it be done to you, Bethel, because of your utter wickedness: At dawn the king of Israel shall perish utterly.

Hosea 11

1 When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more I called them, the farther they went from me, Sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols.
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms;
4 I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer.
5 He shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be his king;
6 The sword shall begin with his cities and end by consuming his solitudes. Because they refused to repent, their own counsels shall devour them.
7 His people are in suspense about returning to him; and God, though in unison they cry out to him, shall not raise them up.
8 How could I give you up, O Ephraim, or deliver you up, O Israel? How could I treat you as Admah, or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred.
9 I will not give vent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again; For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you; I will not let the flames consume you.
10 They shall follow the LORD, who roars like a lion; When he roars, his sons shall come frightened from the west,
11 Out of Egypt they shall come trembling, like sparrows, from the land of Assyria, like doves; And I will resettle them in their homes, says the LORD.
12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, the house of Israel, with deceit; Judah is still rebellious against God, against the Holy One, who is faithful.

Hosea 12

1 Ephraim chases the wind, ever pursuing the gale. His lies and falsehoods are many: he comes to terms with Assyria, and carries oil to Egypt.
2 The LORD has a grievance against Israel: he shall punish Jacob for his conduct, for his deeds he shall repay him.
3 In the womb he supplanted his brother, and as a man he contended with God;
4 He contended with the angel and triumphed, entreating him with tears. At Bethel he met God and there he spoke with him:
5 The LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD is his name!
6 You shall return by the help of your God, if you remain loyal and do right and always hope in your God.
7 A merchant who holds a false balance, who loves to defraud!
8 Though Ephraim says, How rich I have become; I have made a fortune! All his gain shall not suffice him for the guilt of his sin.
9 I am the LORD, your God, since the land of Egypt; I will again have you live in tents, as in that appointed time.
10 I granted many visions and spoke to the prophets, through whom I set forth examples.
11 In Gilead is falsehood, they have come to nought, in Gilgal they sacrifice to bullocks; Their altars are like heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
12 When Jacob fled to the land of Aram, he served for a wife; for a wife Israel tended sheep.
13 By a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet they were protected.
14 Ephraim has exasperated his lord; therefore he shall cast his blood-guilt upon him and repay him for his outrage.

Hosea 13

1 Ephraim's word caused fear, for he was exalted in Israel; but he sinned through Baal and died.
2 Now they continue to sin, making for themselves molten images, Silver idols according to their fancy, all of them the work of artisans. To these, they say, offer sacrifice. Men kiss calves!
3 Therefore, they shall be like a morning cloud or like the dew that early passes away, Like chaff storm-driven from the threshing floor or like smoke out of the window.
4 I am the LORD, your God, since the land of Egypt; You know no God besides me, and there is no savior but me.
5 I fed you in the desert, in the torrid land.
6 They ate their fill; when filled, they became proud of heart and forgot me.
7 Therefore, I will be like a lion to them, like a panther by the road I will keep watch.
8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of its young, and tear their hearts from their breasts; I will devour them on the spot like a lion, as though a wild beast were to rend them.
9 Your destruction, O Israel! who is there to help you?
10 Where now is your king, that he may rescue you in all your cities? And your rulers, of whom you said, Give me a king and princes?
11 I give you a king in my anger, and I take him away in my wrath.
12 The guilt of Israel is wrapped up, his sin is stored away.
13 The birth pangs shall come for him, but he shall be an unwise child; For when it is time he shall not present himself where children break forth.
14 Shall I deliver them from the power of the nether world? shall I redeem them from death? Where are your plagues, O death! where is your sting, O nether world! My eyes are closed to compassion.
15 Though he be fruitful among his fellows, an east wind shall come, a wind from the LORD, rising from the desert, That shall dry up his spring, and leave his fountain dry. It shall loot his land of every precious thing.
16 Samaria shall expiate her guilt, for she has rebelled against her God. They shall fall by the sword, their little ones shall be dashed to pieces, their expectant mothers shall be ripped open.

Hosea 14

1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt.
2 Take with you words, and return to the LORD; Say to him, Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
3 Assyria will not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount; We shall say no more, 'Our god,' to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion.
4 I will heal their defection, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
6 and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
7 Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; They shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols? I have humbled him, but I will prosper him. I am like a verdant cypress tree--Because of me you bear fruit!
9 Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the paths of the LORD, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.