Ephraim’s Iniquity

1
When I would heal Israel,
The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the evil deeds of Samaria,
For they deal falsely;
The thief enters in,
Bandits raid outside,2
And they do not consider in their hearts
That I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds are all around them;
They are before My face.3
With their wickedness they make the king glad,
And the princes with their lies.4
They are all adulterers,
Like an oven heated by the baker
Who ceases to stir up {the fire}
From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.5
On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
He stretched out his hand with scoffers,6
For their hearts are like an oven
{As} they approach their plotting;
Their anger smolders all night,
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.7
All of them are hot like an oven,
And they consume their rulers;
All their kings have fallen.
None of them calls on Me.

8
Ephraim mixes himself with the nations;
Ephraim has become a cake not turned.9
Strangers devour his strength,
Yet he does not know {it;}
Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him,
Yet he does not know {it.}10
Though the pride of Israel testifies against him,
Yet they have not returned to the LORD their God,
Nor have they sought Him, for all this.11
So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without sense;
They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.12
When they go, I will spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.
I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly.13
Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me!
Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!
I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.14
And they do not cry to Me from their heart
When they wail on their beds;
For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves,
They turn away from Me.15
Although I trained {and} strengthened their arms,
Yet they devise evil against Me.16
They turn, {but} not upward,
They are like a deceitful bow;
Their princes will fall by the sword
Because of the insolence of their tongue.
This {will be} their derision in the land of Egypt.

The Response to God’s Rebuke

1
“Come, let us return to the LORD.
For He has torn {us,} but He will heal us;
He has wounded {us,} but He will bandage us.2
“He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.3
“So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.

4
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
For your loyalty is like a morning cloud
And like the dew which goes away early.5
Therefore I have hewn {them} in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
And the judgments on you are {like} the light that goes forth.6
For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,
And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.7
But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant;
There they have dealt treacherously against Me.8
Gilead is a city of wrongdoers,
Tracked with bloody {footprints.}9
And as raiders wait for a man,
{So} a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem;
Surely they have committed crime.10
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
Ephraim’s harlotry is there, Israel has defiled itself.11
Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you,
When I restore the fortunes of My people.

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 snare at Mizpah
And a net spread out on Tabor.2
The revolters have gone deep in depravity,
But I will chastise all of them.3
I know 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 spirit of harlotry is within them,
And they do not know the LORD.5
Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
Judah also has stumbled with them.6
They will go with their flocks and herds
To seek the LORD, but they will not find {Him;}
He has withdrawn from them.7
They have dealt treacherously against the LORD,
For they have borne illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them with their land.

8
Blow the horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
“Behind you, Benjamin!9
Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure.10
The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary;
On them I will pour out My wrath like water.11
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
Because he was determined to follow {man’s} command.12
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.13
When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his wound,
Then Ephraim went to Assyria
And sent to King Jareb.
But he is unable to heal you,
Or to cure you of your wound.14
For I {will be} like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.15
I will go away {and} return to My place
Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.

God’s Controversy with Israel

1
Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel,
For the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is no faithfulness or kindness
Or knowledge of God in the land.2
{There is} swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery.
They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed.3
Therefore the land mourns,
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 disappear.

4
Yet let no one find fault, and let none offer reproof;
For your people are like those who contend with the priest.5
So you will stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your mother.6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

7
The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will change their glory into shame.8
They feed on the sin of My people
And direct their desire toward their iniquity.9
And it will be, like people, like priest;
So I will punish them for their ways
And repay them for their deeds.10
They will eat, but not have enough;
They will play the harlot, but not increase,
Because they have stopped giving heed to the LORD.

11
Harlotry, wine and new wine take away the understanding.12
My people consult 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} from their God.13
They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oak, poplar and terebinth,
Because their shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters play the harlot
And your brides commit adultery.14
I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot
Or your brides when they commit adultery,
For {the men} themselves go apart with harlots
And offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are ruined.

15
Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Do not let Judah become guilty;
Also do not go to Gilgal,
Or go up to Beth-aven
And take the oath:
“As the LORD lives!16
Since Israel is stubborn
Like a stubborn heifer,
Can the LORD now pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?17
Ephraim is joined to idols;
Let him alone.18
Their liquor gone,
They play the harlot continually;
Their rulers dearly love shame.19
The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Hosea’s Second Symbolic Marriage

1 Then the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman {who} is loved by {her} husband, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen {shekels} of silver and a homer and a half of barley.3 Then I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you.4 For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or {sacred} pillar and without ephod or household idols.5 Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

1 Say to your brothers, “Ammi, and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.2
“Contend with your mother, contend,
For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband;
And let her put away her harlotry from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,3
Or I will strip her naked
And expose her as on the day when she was born.
I will also make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land
And slay her with thirst.4
“Also, I will have no compassion on her children,
Because they are children of harlotry.5
“For their mother has played the harlot;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, `I will go after my lovers,
Who give {me} my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’6
“Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns,
And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.7
“She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not find {them.}
Then she will say, `I will go back to my first husband,
For it was better for me then than now!’

8
“For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
{Which} they used for Baal.9
“Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
{Given} to cover her nakedness.10
“And then I will uncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her out of My hand.11
“I will also put an end to all her gaiety,
Her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths
And all her festal assemblies.12
“I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, `These are my wages
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will make them a forest,
And the beasts of the field will devour them.13
“I will punish her for the days of the Baals
When she used to offer sacrifices to them
And adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me, declares the LORD.

Restoration of Israel

14
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Bring her into the wilderness
And speak kindly to her.15
“Then I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will sing there as in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.16
“It will come about in that day, declares the LORD,
“That you will call Me Ishi
And will no longer call Me Baali.17
“For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will be mentioned by their names no more.18
“In that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
The birds of the sky
And the creeping things of the ground.
And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land,
And will make them lie down in safety.19
“I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and in compassion,20
And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will know the LORD.

21
“It will come about in that day that I will respond, declares the LORD.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,22
And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil,
And they will respond to Jezreel.23
“I will sow her for Myself in the land.
I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion,
And I will say to those who were not My people,
`You are My people!’
And they will say, `{You are} my God!’

Hosea’s Wife and Children

1 The word of the LORD which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz {and} Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and {have} children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD.3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.4 And the LORD said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.5 “On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.7 “But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the LORD their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen.

8 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son.9 And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.

10
Yet the number of the sons of Israel
Will be like the sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or numbered;
And in the place
Where it is said to them,
“You are not My people,
It will be said to them,
“{You are} the sons of the living God.11
And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together,
And they will appoint for themselves one leader,
And they will go up from the land,
For great will be the day of Jezreel.

The Time of the End

1 “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands {guard} over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace {and} everlasting contempt. 3 “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.  5 Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river. 6 And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long {will it be} until the end of {these} wonders? 7 I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half {a} {time;} and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these {events} will be completed. 8 As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what {will be} the outcome of these {events?} 9 He said, “Go {your way,} Daniel, for {these} words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. 10 “Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. 11 “From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, {there will be} 1,290 days. 12 “How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! 13 “But as for you, go {your way} to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise {again} for your allotted portion at the end of the age.

Conflicts to Come

1 “In the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him. 2 “And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all {of them;} as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole {empire} against the realm of Greece. 3 “And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases. 4 “But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his {own} descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and {given} to others besides them.

 5 “Then the king of the South will grow strong, along with {one} of his princes who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain {will be} a great dominion {indeed.} 6 “After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to carry out a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her position of power, nor will he remain with his power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who sired her as well as he who supported her in {those} times. 7 “But one of the descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against {their} army and enter the fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and display {great} strength. 8 “Also their gods with their metal images {and} their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will refrain from {attacking} the king of the North for {some} years. 9 “Then the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his {own} land.

 10 “His sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, that he may again wage war up to his {very} fortress. 11 “The king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but {that} multitude will be given into the hand of the {former.} 12 “When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail. 13 “For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and after an interval of some years he will press on with a great army and much equipment.

 14 “Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down. 15 “Then the king of the North will come, cast up a siege ramp and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand {their ground,} not even their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. 16 “But he who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will {be able to} withstand him; he will also stay {for a time} in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17 “He will set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand {for him} or be on his side. 18 “Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him; moreover, he will repay him for his scorn. 19 “So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be found no more.

 20 “Then in his place one will arise who will send an oppressor through the Jewel of {his} kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle. 21 “In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 “The overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 “After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small {force of} people. 24 “In a time of tranquility he will enter the richest {parts} of the realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his ancestors; he will distribute plunder, booty and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but {only} for a time. 25 “He will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him. 26 “Those who eat his choice food will destroy him, and his army will overflow, but many will fall down slain. 27 “As for both kings, their hearts will be {intent} on evil, and they will speak lies {to each other} at the same table; but it will not succeed, for the end is still {to come} at the appointed time. 28 “Then he will return to his land with much plunder; but his heart will be {set} against the holy covenant, and he will take action and {then} return to his {own} land.

 29 “At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30 “For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 “Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. 32 “By smooth {words} he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. 33 “Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for {many} days. 34 “Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy. 35 “Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because {it is} still {to come} at the appointed time.

 36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 “He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any {other} god; for he will magnify himself above {them} all. 38 “But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor {him} with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39 “He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with {the help of} a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge {him} and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

 40 “At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow {them} and pass through. 41 “He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many {countries} will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42 “Then he will stretch out his hand against {other} countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 “But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians {will follow} at his heels. 44 “But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. 45 “He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

Daniel Is Terrified by a Vision

1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar; and the message was true and {one of} great conflict, but he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision.

 2 In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. 3 I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, 5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with {a belt of} pure gold of Uphaz. 6 His body also {was} like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult. 7 Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. 8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. 9 But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

Daniel Comforted

 10 Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said to me, “O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding {this} and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13 “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. 14 “Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet {future.}

 15 When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless. 16 And behold, one who resembled a human being was touching my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who was standing before me, “O my lord, as a result of the vision anguish has come upon me, and I have retained no strength. 17 “For how can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for me, there remains just now no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me.

 18 Then {this} one with human appearance touched me again and strengthened me. 19 He said, “O man of high esteem, do not be afraid. Peace be with you; take courage and be courageous! Now as soon as he spoke to me, I received strength and said, “May my lord speak, for you have strengthened me. 20 Then he said, “Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come. 21 “However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these {forces} except Michael your prince.