Chapter 1 – Chapter 5

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

1 THE word of Jehovah, which came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2 The beginning of what Jehovah spoke by Hosea: Jehovah said to Hosea, “Go, take to thee a wife of wantonness, and children of wantonness; for by wantoning the land hath become wanton, so that it follows not Jehovah.”

3 And he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bare him a son:

4 And Jehovah said to him, “Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while and I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel;

5 And it shall be in that day, that I will break in pieces the bow in the valley of Jezreel.”

6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter; and he said to him, “Call her name Loruchamah; for I will no more show mercy to the house of Israel, for I will utterly take them away: (56.)

Note 102. This number refers to the page where another rendering is proposed.

7 But to the house of Judah I will show mercy, and will save them by Jehovah their God; and I will save them neither by the bow, nor by the sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen.”

8 And she weaned Lo-ruchamah, and conceived, and bare a son;

9 And he said, “Call his name Lo-ammi; for ye are not my people, and I will not be yours:

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall be, that in the place where it had been said to them, ‘Ye are not my people,’ even there it shall be said, ‘Ye are the children of the living God:’

11 And assembled together shall be the children of Judah and the children of Israel, and shall set over themselves one head, and shall ascend from the land, though great shall be the day of Jezreel.”

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2.

Note 103. The portions supposed to be in the original in a poetical metre are placed here in parallel lines, not because they are so arranged by Calvin, but for the purpose of setting forth the meaning in a clearer light. It is proper also to say, that the sectional divisions are those of the Editor.

1 Say to your brethren, “My people;” And to your sisters, “Beloved.” —

2 Contend with your mother, contend; For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband: Let her then remove her fornications from her face,And her adulteries from the midst of her breasts;

3 Lest I strip her naked, And place her as on the day of her nativity, And set her as the desert, and set her as a dry land, And make her to die with thirst.

4 And her children I will not pity; For they are spurious children:

5 For the wanton has their mother played; With lewdness is she defiled who hath conceived them; For she said, — “I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my waters, My wool, and my flax, and my oil, and lily drink.”

6 Behold, therefore, I will close up her way with thorns, And surround her with a mound, And her path she shall not find;

7 And she will follow her lovers, and shall not overtake them, And will seek them, and shall not find them; Then she will say, — “I will go and return to my former husband, For better was it. with me then than now.”

8 And she knew not that I gave to her corn, and wine, and oil, And multiplied to her the silver and the gold, Which they applied to Baal.

9 I will therefore return, and take away the corn in its time, And my new wine in its season; And will snatch away my wool and flax, By which she covered her own nakedness;

10 And I will now uncover her baseness before the eyes of her lovers, And no one shall rescue her from my hand;

11 And I will cause to cease all her joy and her mirth, Her new Moon, her sabbath, and every festal-day;

12 And I will destroy her vine and her fig-tree, Of which she said, — “These are my rewards, Which my lovers have given me;” And will set them as the forest, And eat them shall the beast of the field;

13 And I will visit on her the days of Baalim, To whom she offered incense, And adorned herself with her earring and her chain, And went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith Jehovah.

14 Behold, therefore, I will turn her, When I shall have led her to the desert, And will speak to her heart;

15 And will give her thence her vineyards, And the valley of Achor for a door of hope; And there she will sing as in the days of her youth, And as in the day she ascended from the land of Egypt.

16 And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, That thou shalt call me, — “My Husband,” And shalt no more call me, — “My Baal:”

17 And I will take away the names of Baalim from her mouth, And she will no more remember their name:

18 I will also make for them a covenant, in that day, With the beast of the field, and the bird of heaven, and the reptile of the earth; And the bow, and the sword, and the battle, I will break from the land; And I will make them rest in security:

19 I will also espouse thee to me for ever, And espouse thee to me in righteousness, And in judgment, and in kindness, and in mercies; And I will espouse thee to me in faithfulness, And thou shalt know Jehovah.

20 And in that day I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they will hear the earth, And the earth will hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, And these will hear Jezreel: And I will sow her for me in the land, And show mercy to her who obtained not mercy, And will say to Lo-ammi, — “Ye are my people” And they will say, — “Thou art our God.”

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

1 And Jehovah said to me, — “Go again, love a woman beloved by a husband, and who is an adulteress, — according to the love of Jehovah towards the children of Israel, who yet look to strange gods, and love flagons of grapes.”

2 And I bought her for myself for fifteen silverings and one homer of barley, and half an homer of barley.

3 And I said to her, — “For many days shalt thou abide for me; thou shalt not play the wanton, and shalt not be for any man, and I also shall be for thee.”

4 For the children of Israel shall for many days abide without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without a statue, and without an ephod, and without teraphim.

5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king; and they shall fear Jehovah and his goodness at the end of days.

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

1 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; For a contention has Jehovah with the inhabitants of the land, For there is no faithfulness and no kindness, And no knowledge of God in the land:

2 Cursing, and lying, and murder, And stealing, and adultery, have burst forth; And blood have touched blood.

3 Mourn therefore shall the land, And languish shall every one who dwells in it; Together with the beast of the field, the bird of heaven, And also the fish of the sea, shall they be taken away.

4 But yet no man may rebuke and reprove a man; For thy people are as those who chide the priest.

5 Fall then shalt thou in the daytime, And fall also shall the Prophet with thee in the night; And I will destroy thy mother.

6 Perished have my people without knowledge: As thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, That thou shalt not discharge for me the priesthood; And as thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, Thy children will I also forget.

7 According to their increase, so have they sinned against me: Their glory will I turn to shame.

8 The sin of my people they eat, And to their iniquity they raise up the soul of each. (154)

9 And it shall be, as the people so shall be the priest; And I will visit on them their ways, And their works will I repay them:

10 For they shall eat, and shall not be satisfied: They shall play the wanton, and shall not increase; For Jehovah have they left off to serve.

11 Wantonness and wine, and new wine, take away the heart.

12 My people their wood consult, And their staff answers them; For the spirit of wantonness has deceived them, And they have played the wanton away from their God:

13 On the tops of mountains they sacrifice, And on hills they burn incense — Under the oak, and the poplar, and the teil-tree, For pleasant is its shade. Therefore your daughters shall become wanton, And your daughters-in-law shall be adulteresses. —

14 I will not punish your daughters, because they become wanton, Nor your daughters-in-law, because they have committed adulteries; For they with strumpets separate themselves, And with harlots they sacrifice: — And the people who understand not shall stumble.

15 If thou, Israel, art become wanton, let not Judah offend; Come ye not to Gilgal, nor ascend into Bethaven, Nor swear, Jehovah liveth.

16 For as an untameable heifer, untameable is Israel: Now feed him will Jehovah, as a tender lamb, in a spacious place.

17 To idols has Ephraim joined himself; — leave him.

18 Putrid is become their drink, By wantoning they have become wanton; “Bring ye,” have their princes shamefully loved.

19 They have bound up wind in their wings, And ashamed they shall be of their sacrifices.

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

1 Hear this, ye priests, and attend, ye house of Israel, And ye house of the king, give ear, — For to you is judgment; For a snare have you been in Mizpah, And a net expanded over Tabor.

2 And turning aside in sacrificing they are deeply fixed; Yet a correction have I been to them all.

3 I have known Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; For thou Ephraim art wanton, polluted is Israel.

4 They apply not their endeavors to turn to their God; For the spirit of wantonness is in the midst of them. And Jehovah they have not known

5 And testify does the pride of Israel to his face: Israel then and Ephraim shall fall in their iniquity, Fall also shall Judah with them.

6 With their sheep and their herds shall they go to seek Jehovah; But shall not find him: he has separated himself from them.

7 With Jehovah have they dealt perfidiously; For strange children have they begotten: Now devour them shall a month, together with their portions.

8 Sound the cornet in Gibeah, blow the trumpet in Ramah, Blow also the horn in Bethaven after thee, Benjamin: —

9 Ephraim shall be a waste in the day of correction; Among the tribes of Israel have I taught this truth.

10 The princes of Judah have been as those who remove the boundary; On them will I pour, as waters, my fury.

11 Exposed to plunder has Ephraim been, broken by judgment; For he willingly walked after the commandments.

12 And as a moth have I been to Ephraim, And as a worm to the house of Judah;

13 And Ephraim saw his disease, and Judah his wound; Ephraim went to Assur, and sent to king Jareb: Yet he could not heal you, nor will he cure you of your wound;

14 For as a lion shall I be to Ephraim, And as a young lion to the house of Judah: I — I will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall deliver. —

15 I will go, I will return to my place, Until they confess that they have sinned, and seek my face: When they shall have affliction, they will seek me: —