A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Hosea, son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel:

When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him:

Go and marry a promiscuous wife
and have children of promiscuity,
for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity
by abandoning the Lord.

Now when Lo-ruhamah had been taken from the breast, the woman gave birth to a son.

and the number of the sons of Israel hath been as the sand of the sea, that is not measured nor numbered, and it hath come to pass in the place where it is said to them, Ye are not My people, it is said to them, Sons of the Living God;

and gathered have been the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel together, and they have appointed to themselves one head, and have gone up from the land, for great is the day of Jezreel.

“[Hosea,] say to your brothers, ‘Ammi (you are my people),’ and to your sisters, ‘Ruhamah (you have been pitied and have obtained mercy).’

For their mother has been untrue; she who gave them birth has done things of shame, for she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my wine.

So I will take away again my grain in its time and my wine, and I will take away my wool and my linen with which her body might have been covered.

And I will punish her for the days of the Baals
when she burned incense to them,
put on her rings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but forgot Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also!

And it hath been, like people, like priest, And I have charged on it its ways, And its habitual doings I return to it.

And they shall eat, and not be satisfied, they have encouraged unchastity, yet have not been making increase, - for unto, Yahweh, have they left off giving heed: -

My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.

For, as a heifer that is stubborn, hath Israel, been stubborn, - Now, can Yahweh, turn them out to pasture, like a young ram in a wide place?

Their drink is sour: they have been guilty of lewd deeds continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.

Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.

I have known Ephraim, And Israel hath not been hid from me, For now thou hast gone a-whoring, Ephraim, Defiled is Israel.

And humbled hath been the excellency of Israel to his face, And Israel and Ephraim stumble by their iniquity, Stumbled also hath Judah with them.

They have been false to the Lord; they have given birth to strange children; now the new moon will make them waste with their fields.

Princes of Judah have been as those removing a border, On them I do pour out as water My wrath.

"So, Judah, a harvest has been appointed for you when I restore my people from captivity."

And they do not say to their heart, That all their evil I have remembered, Now compassed them have their doings, Over-against My face they have been.

They are all heated like an oven, and they put an end to their judges; all their kings have been made low; not one among them makes prayer to me.

Ephraim! among peoples he mixeth himself, Ephraim hath been a cake unturned.

And humbled hath been the excellency of Israel to his face, And they have not turned back unto Jehovah their God, Nor have they sought Him for all this.

Ephraim has been like a dove, easily deceived and lacking discernment. They called to Egypt for help; they turned to Assyria for protection.

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.

May trouble be theirs! for they have gone far away from me; and destruction, for they have been sinning against me; I was ready to be their saviour, but they said false words against me.

They turn back -- not to the Most High, They have been as a deceitful bow, Fall by sword do their princes, From the insolence of their tongue, This is their derision in the land of Egypt!

Your calf, Samaria, has been thrown away. My anger is burning against them. How long until they become pure again?

For they have been planting the wind, and their fruit will be the storm; his grain has no stem, it will give no meal, and if it does, a strange nation will take it.

Israel hath been swallowed up, Now they have been among nations, As a vessel in which is no delight.

Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been unto him for sinning.

I write for him numerous things of My law, As a strange thing they have been reckoned.

My sacrificial gifts, have they been sacrificing as common flesh, and have eaten, Yahweh, hath not accepted them, - Now, will he call to mind their iniquity, that he may punish their sin, they, to Egypt, will return.

Have no joy, O Israel, and do not be glad like the nations; for you have been untrue to your God; your desire has been for the loose woman's reward on every grain-floor.

The watchman of Ephraim, should have been with my God: As for the prophet, the snare of the fowler, is on all his ways, a prosecution awaiteth him , in the house of his God.

As I have seen a beast whose young have been taken from her, so Ephraim will give birth to children only for them to be put to death.

Ephraim hath been smitten, Their root hath dried up, fruit they yield not, Yea, though they bring forth, I have put to death the desired of their womb.

My God shall cast them away, for they have not been obedient unto him, therefore shall they go astray among the Heathen.

Their heart hath been divided, now they are guilty, He doth break down their altars, He doth destroy their standing-pillars.

And destroyed have been high places of Aven, the sin of Israel. Thorn and bramble go up on their altars, And they have said to hills, Cover us, And to heights, Fall upon us.

You have been ploughing sin, you have got in a store of evil, the fruit of deceit has been your food: for you put faith in your way, in the number of your men of war.

Grievous hath been the sword in his cities, And it hath ended his bars, and consumed -- from their own counsels.

How do I give thee up, O Ephraim? Do I deliver thee up, O Israel? How do I make thee as Admah? Do I set thee as Zeboim? Turned in Me is My heart, kindled together have been My repentings.

They will be roused like birds from Egypt
and like doves from the land of Assyria.
Then I will settle them in their homes.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I have been Yahweh your God
ever since the land of Egypt.
I will make you live in tents again,
as in the festival days.

Surely Gilead is iniquity, Only, vanity they have been, In Gilead bullocks they have sacrificed, Also their altars are as heaps, on the furrows of a field.

And by a prophet hath Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet it hath been watched.

I have been bitterly moved to wrath by Ephraim; so that his blood will be on him, and the Lord will make his shame come back on him.

When Ephraim speaketh tremblingly, He hath been lifted up in Israel, When he becometh guilty in Baal he dieth.

I have been Yahweh your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but Me,
and no Savior exists besides Me.

According to their feedings they are satiated, They have been satiated, And their heart is lifted up, Therefore they have forgotten Me,

I will come face to face with them like a bear whose young ones have been taken from her, and their inmost hearts will be broken; there the dogs will make a meal of them; they will be wounded by the beasts of the field.

It is your destruction, O Israel,
Because you are against Me, [and have rebelled] against your help.

The punishment of Ephraim has been decreed; his punishment is being stored up for the future.

Therefore shall sorrows come upon him, as upon a woman that travaileth. An indiscreet son is he: for he considereth not, that he should not have been able to have endured in the time of his birth,

O Israel, come back to the Lord your God; for your evil-doing has been the cause of your fall.