This is the word of the LORD, that came unto Oseas the son of Beeri, in the days of Oseas, Joathan, Ahaz, and Jezekiah kings of Judah: and in the time of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israell.
First, when the LORD spake unto Oseas, he said unto him: Go thy way, take an harlot to thy wife, and get children by her: for the land hath committed great whoredom against the LORD.
And the LORD said unto him: Call his name Iesrael, for I will shortly avenge the blood of Iesrael upon the house of Jehu,|Iehu| and will bring the kingdom of the house of Israell to an end.
She conceived yet again, and bare a daughter. And he said unto him: Call her name Loruhamah (that is, not obtaining mercy) for I will have no pity upon the house of Israell, but forget them, and put them clean out of remembrance.
Nevertheless I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them even thorow the LORD their God. But I will not deliver them thorow any bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.
And though the number of the children of Israell be as the sand of the sea, which can neither be measured nor told: yet in the place where it is said unto them; Ye be not my people: even there shall it be thus reported of them: they be the children of the living God.
Then shall the children of Judah|Iuda| and the children of Israel be gathered together again, and chose themselves one head, and then depart out of the land: for great shall be the day of Israel.
As for your mother, ye shall chide with her, and reprove her: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband, unless she put away her whoredoms out of my sight, and her advoutry from her breasts.
If no, I shall strip her naked, and set her, even as she came into the world: Yea I shall lay her waste, and make her like a wilderness, and slay her for thirst.
Their mother hath broken her wedlock, and she that bare them, is come to confusion. For she said: I will go after my lovers, that give me my water and my bread, my wool|woll| and my flax, my oil and my drink.
and though she run after her lovers, yet shall she not get them: she shall seek them, but not find them. Then shall she say: well, I will go turn again to my first husband, for at that time was I better at ease, than now.
I will destroy her vineyards and fig trees, though she sayeth: lo, here are my rewards, that my lovers have given me. I will make it a wood, and the wild beasts shall eat it up.
I will punish her also for the days of Baal, wherein she censed him, decking him with her earings and chains: when she followed her lovers, and forgat me, sayeth the LORD.
there will I give her, her vineyards again, yea and the valley of Achor also, to shew her hope and comfort. Then shall she sing there as in the time of her youth, and like as in the day when she came out of the land of Egypt.
Then will I make a covenant with them, with the wild beasts, with the fowls of the air, and with everything that creepeth upon the earth. As for bow, sword and battle, I will destroy such out of the land, and will make them to sleep safely.
Thus will I marry thee unto mine own self forevermore: yea even to myself will I marry thee, in righteousness, in equity, in loving-kindness, and mercy.
I will sow them upon earth, for a seed to mine own self, and will have mercy upon her, that was without mercy. And to them which were not my people, I will say: Thou art my people. And he shall say: thou art my God.(Septuagint: And I will sow her to me on the earth; and will love her that was not loved, and will say to that which was not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art the Lord my God. Romans 9:25)
Then said the LORD to me: Go yet thy way and vow|wow| an advoutrous woman, whom thy neighbour loveth, as the LORD doth the children of Israell: how be it they have respect to strange gods, and love the wine cans.
and said unto her: Thou shalt bide with me a long season, but see that thou playest not the harlot, and look thou meddle with none other man, and then will I keep my self for thee.
But afterward shall the children of Israel convert, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king: and in the latter days they shall worship the LORD, and his loving-kindness.
Hear the word of the LORD, O ye children of Israel: For the LORD must punish them, that dwell in the land. And why? There is no faithfulness, there is no mercy, there is no knowledge of God in the land:
Therefore shall the land be in a miserable cause, and all they that dwell therein, shall mourn. The beasts in the field, the fowls in the air, and the fishes in the sea shall die.
my people perish, because they have no knowledge. Seeing then that thou hast refused understanding, therefore will I refuse thee also: so that thou shalt no more be my priest. And for so much as thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
They shall eat, and not have enough: they have used whoredom, therefore shall they not prosper: and why? they have forsaken the LORD, and not regarded him.
My people ask counsel at their stocks, their staff must tell them. For an whorish mind hath deceived them, so that they commit fornication against their God.
They make sacrifices upon the high mountains, and burn their incense upon the hills, yea among the oaks, groves and bushes, for there are good shadows. Therefore your daughters are become harlots, and your spouses have broken their wedlock,
I will not punish your daughters for being defiled, and your brides that became whores: seeing the fathers themselves have meddled with harlots, and offered with unthriftiness: but the people that will not understand must be punished.
Though thou Israel are disposed to play the harlot, yet shouldest not thou have offended, O Juda: thou shouldest not have run to Gilgal,|Galgala| nor gone up to Bethhaven, nor have sworn, the LORD liveth.
O ye priests: hear this, take heed, O thou household of Israel: give ear, O thou kingly house: for this punishment will come upon you, that are become a snare unto Mizphah, and a spread net unto the mount of Thabor.
When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his disease: Ephraim went unto Assur, and sent unto king Jareb: yet could not he help you, nor ease you of your pain.
I am unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a lion's whelp to the house of Judah. Even I, I will spoil them, and go my way. I will take them with me, and no man shall rescue them.
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.
Then shall we have understanding, and endeavor ourselves to know the LORD. He shall go forth as the spring of the day, and come unto us as the evening and morning rain upon the earth.
O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, how shall I entreat thee? seeing your love is like a morning cloud, and like a dew that goeth early away.
For I have pleasure in loving-kindness, and not in offering: Yea in the knowledge of God, more than in burnt sacrifice.(Septuagint: For I will have mercy rather than sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than whole-burnt-offerings. Matthew 9:13 and Matthew 12:7)
When I undertake to make Israel whole, then the ungraciousness of Ephraim and the wickedness of Samaria cometh to light: then go they about with lies. At home, they be thieves: and without they fall to robbing.
They with the imagination of their heart are like an oven, their sleep is all night like the sleep of a baker, in the morning is he as hot as the flame of fire:
they are altogether as hot as an oven. They have devoured their own judges, all their kings are fallen: yet is there none of them that calleth upon me.
but while they be going here and there, I shall spread my net over them, and draw them down as the fowls of the air: and according as they have been warned, so will I punish them;
Woe be unto them, for they have forsaken me. They must be destroyed, for they have set me at naught. I am he that have redeemed them, and yet they dissemble with me.
They call not upon me with their hearts, but lie howling|yowling| upon their beds. Where as they come together, it is but for meat and drink, and me will they not obey.
They turn themselves, but not a right, and are become as a broken bow. Their princes shall be slain with the sword, for the malice of their tongues, such blasphemies have they learned in the land of Egypt.
Set the horn to thy mouth, and blow: get thee swiftly (as an Aegle) into the house of the LORD: for they have broken my covenant, and transgressed my law.
They have ordained kings, but not thorow me: they have made princes, and I must not know of it. Of their silver and gold have they made them images, to bring them selves to destruction.
They have sown wind, therefore shall they reap a storm. Their seed shall bear no corn, there shall no meal be made of their increase: though they reap,|yer be| yet shall strangers devour it up.
Where as they do sacrifice, offering the flesh and eating it: The LORD will have no pleasure therein: but will remember their wickedness, and punish their sins. Israel turneth again into Egypt,
they have forgotten him that made them, they build churches, and Juda maketh many strong cities: therefore will I send a fire into their cities, and it shall consume their places.
Do not thou triumph, O Israel make no boasting|boosting| more than the Heathen, for thou hast committed advoutry against thy God: strange rewards hast thou loved, more than all the corn floors.
They pour out no wine for a drink offering unto the LORD, neither give they him their slain offerings: but they be unto them as mourners meats, wherein all they that eat them, are defiled. For the bread that they have such lust unto, shall not come into the house of the LORD.
Lo, they shall get them away for the destruction? Egypt shall receive them, and Noph shall bury them. The nettles shall overgrow their pleasant goods, and burrs shall be in their tabernacles.
Be ye sure (O Israel) the time of visitation is come, the days of recompensing are at hand. As for the prophet, ye hold him for a fool: and him that is rich in the spirit, for a mad man: so great is your wickedness and malice.
They be gone too far, and have destroyed themselves, like as they did afore time at Gabaa. Therefore their wickedness shall be remembered, and their sins punished.
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness, and saw their fathers as the first figs in the top of the fig tree. But they are gone to Baal Peor, and run away from me to that shameful Idol, and are become as abominable as their lovers.
All their wickedness is done at Gilgal, there do I abhor them. For the ungraciousness of their own inventions, I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more, for all their princes are unfaithful.
Ephraim is hewn down, their root is dried up, so that they shall bring no more fruit: yea and though they bring forth any, yet will I slay even the best beloved fruit of their body.
Israell was a goodly vine, but he hath brought forth unprofitable fruit: yea the more fruit he had the more alters he made: the more good I did to their land, the more friendship shewed they to their Images.
They commune|comon| together, and swear vain oaths: they be confederate together, therefore groweth their punishment, as the weeds in the furrows of the land.
They that dwell in Samaria have worshiped the calf of Bethaven: therefore shall the people mourn over them, yea and the priests also, that in their wealthiness rejoiced with them: and why? it shall pass away from them.
It shall be brought to the Assyrian for a present unto king Jareb. Ephraim shall receive full punishment: Israel shall be confounded for his own imaginations,
The high places of Aven, where Israel do sin, shall be cast down: thistles and thorns shall grow upon their alters. Then shall they say to the mountains: cover us, and to the hills: fall upon us.
O Israel, thou hast sinned as Gabaa did afore time, where they remained: should not the battle then come upon the wicked children, as well as upon the Gabaonites?
Ephraim was unto me, as a cow that is used to go to plow, therefore I loved him, and fell upon his fair neck. I drove Ephraim, Juda plowed, and Jacob played the husbandman:
that they might sow unto righteousness, and reap the fruits of well doing: that they might plow up their fresh land and seek the LORD, till he came, and learned them righteousness.
But now they have plowed them wickedness, therefore shall they reap sin, and eat the fruit of lies. Seeing thou puttest thy confidence in thine own ways, and leanest to the multitude of thy worthies:
there shall grow a sedition among thy people. All thy strong cities shall be laid waste, even as Salmana was destroyed with his familiars, thorow him that was avenged of Arbel,|Baal| in the day of battle where the mother perished with her children.
When Israel was young, I loved him: and called my son out of the land of Egypt.(Septuagint: Early in the morning were they cast off, the king of Israel has been cast off: for Israel is a child, and I loved him, and out of Egypt have I called his children. Note Masoretic quote: Matthew 2:15)
Therefore shall the sword begin in their cities, the store that they have laid up,|likened unto| shall be destroyed and eaten: |up:| and that because of their own imaginations.
What great things have I given thee, O Ephraim? how faithfully have I defended thee, O Israel? have I dealt with thee as with Adam? or have I entreated thee like Seboim? No, my heart is otherwise minded. Yea my mercy is to fervent:
therefore have I not turned me to destroy Ephraim in my wrothful displeasure. For I am God, and no man, I am even that holy one in the middest of thee, though I came not within the city.
that they may be scattered|scarred| away from Egypt, as men scare birds: and frayed away (as doves use to be) from the Assirian's land: and that because I would have them tarry at home, sayeth the LORD.
Ephraim keepeth the air, and followeth after the east wind: he is ever increasing lies and destruction. They be confederate with the Assyrians, their oil is carried into Egypt.
But at Gilead is the abomination, they are fallen to vanity. At Gilgal they have slain oxen: and as many heaps of stones as they had in their land furrows, so many alters have they made.
But Ephraim hath provoked him to displeasure thorow his abominations; therefore shall his blood be poured upon himself, and the Lord|LORDE| his God shall reward him his blasphemies.
And now they sin more and more: of their silver, they make them molten Images, like the idols of the Heathen, and yet all is nothing but the work of the craftsmen. Notwithstanding they preach of the same: who so will kiss the calves, offereth to men.
Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that early passeth away, and like as dust that the wind taketh away from the floor, and as smoke that goeth out of the chimney.
I am the LORD thy God, (that establishes the heaven, and creates the earth, whose hands have framed the whole host of heaven: but I shewed them not to thee that thou shouldest go after them: and) which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: that thou shouldest know no God but me only, and that thou shouldest have no Saviour but only me.
I will come upon them as a she bear, that is robbed of her whelps, and I will break that stubborn heart of theirs. There will I devour them as a lion: yea the wild beast shall tear them.
Therefore shall sorrows come upon him, as upon a woman that travaileth. An undiscrete son is he: for he considereth not, that he should not have been able to have endured in the time of his birth,
had not I defended him from the grave, and delivered him from death. O death, I will be thy death: O hell, I will be thy sting.(Septuagint: I will deliver them out of the power of Hades, and will redeem them from death: where is thy penalty, O death? O Hades, where is thy sting? comfort is hidden from mine eyes. 1 Corinthians 15:55)
Yet can I see no comforth, for when he is now the goodliest among the brethren, the East wind (even the wind of the LORD) shall come down from the wilderness, and dry up his conduits,|condytes| and drink up his wells: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
As for Samaria, they shall be made waste, and why? they are disobedient unto their God. They shall perish with the sword, their children shall be slain, and their women great|bygg| with child shall be ripped|rypte| up.
O Israel, turn thee now, unto the LORD thy God, for thou hast taken a great fall thorow thy wickedness.{Turn Israel unto the LORD thy God: For thou art fallen for thy wickednesses' sake.}
Take these words with you, when ye turn to the LORD,|LORDE| and say unto him: O forgive us all our sins, receive us graciously, and then will we offer thee bullocks of our lips unto thee.{Take words with you and turn unto the Lord. And say unto him: remit all wickedness and given things, and we will pay thee openly that we have promised with our lips.}
Assur shall be no more our helper, neither will we ride upon horses any more. As for the works of our hands, we will no more call upon them: for it is thou that art our God, thou shewest ever mercy unto the fatherless.{Asshur shall not save us, neither will we ride on horses: neither will we say to the works of our own hands, ye are our Gods, for thou hast compassion on the friendless.}
O (if they would do this) I should heal their sores: yea with all my heart would I love them: so that my wrath should clean be turned away from them:{I will heal their obedience and will love them of mine own accord: for my wrath is ceased from them.}
Yea I would be unto Israel as the dew, and he should grow as the lily, and his root should break out as Libanus.{I will be as dew to Israel, and he shall flourish as a lily, and stretch out his roots as Lebanon.}
His branches should spread out abroad, and be as fair as the olive tree, and smell as Libanus.{His branches shall run out, and as an olive tree shall his glory be, and his savour as Lebanon.}
They that dwell under his shadow, should come again, and grow up as the corn, and flourish as the vine: he should have as good a name, as the wine of Libanus.{They that shall turn and sit in his shadow, shall live with corn, and flourish as vines. His renown shall be as the wine of Lebanon.}
O Ephraim what have I to do with Idols any more? I will graciously hear him, and lead him forth. I will be unto thee as a green fir tree, upon me shalt thou find thy fruit.{Ephraim, what have ye any more to do with idols? I have healed him and looked on him. I will be as a great fir tree, and of me shall thy fruit be found.}
Who so is wise, shall understand this: and he that is right instruct, will regard it. For the ways of the LORD are righteous, such as be godly will walk in them: As for the wicked, they will stumble therein.{Who is wise to anderstand 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.}