1:1 The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri,

in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of

Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of

Israel.

1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD

said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and

children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great

whoredom, [departing] from the LORD.

1:3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which

conceived, and bare him a son.

1:4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a

little [while], and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the

house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house

of Israel.

1:5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the

bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

1:6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And [God] said

unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have

mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them

away.

1:7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save

them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor

by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

1:8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a

son.

1:9 Then said [God], Call his name Loammi: for ye [are] not my

people, and I will not be your [God].

1:10 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 come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto

them, Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto

them, [Ye are] the sons of the living God.

1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel

be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they

shall come up out of the land: for great [shall be] the day of

Jezreel.

2:1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters,

Ruhamah.

2:2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she [is] not my wife,

neither [am] I her husband: let her therefore put away her

whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her

breasts;

2:3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she

was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry

land, and slay her with thirst.

2:4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they [be]

the children of whoredoms.

2:5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived

them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my

lovers, that give [me] my bread and my water, my wool and my

flax, mine oil and my drink.

2:6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and

make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

2:7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not

overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find

[them]: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first

husband; for then [was it] better with me than now.

2:8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and

oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [which] they prepared

for Baal.

2:9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time

thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my

wool and my flax [given] to cover her nakedness.

2:10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her

lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

2:11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days,

her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

2:12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she

hath said, These [are] my rewards that my lovers have given me:

and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field

shall eat them.

2:13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she

burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her

earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and

forgat me, saith the LORD.

2:14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into

the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

2:15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the

valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there,

as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up

out of the land of Egypt.

2:16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, [that] thou

shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

2:17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth,

and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the

beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and [with]

the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and

the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them

to lie down safely.

2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will

betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in

lovingkindness, and in mercies.

2:20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou

shalt know the LORD.

2:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith

the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the

earth;

2:22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the

oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

2:23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have

mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to

[them which were] not my people, Thou [art] my people; and they

shall say, [Thou art] my God.

3:1 Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of

[her] friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the

LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and

love flagons of wine.

3:2 So I bought her to me for fifteen [pieces] of silver, and

[for] an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:

3:3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou

shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for [another]

man: so [will] I also [be] for thee.

3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a

king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and

without an image, and without an ephod, and [without] teraphim:

3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the

LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD

and his goodness in the latter days.

4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the

LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,

because [there is] no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in

the land.

4:2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and

committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

4:3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth

therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with

the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be

taken away.

4:4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people

[are] as they that strive with the priest.

4:5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also

shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy

mother.

4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou

hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou

shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of

thy God, I will also forget thy children.

4:7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me:

[therefore] will I change their glory into shame.

4:8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart

on their iniquity.

4:9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will

punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.

4:10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit

whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to

take heed to the LORD.

4:11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

4:12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff

declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused

[them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their

God.

4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn

incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms,

because the shadow thereof [is] good: therefore your daughters

shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom,

nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are

separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots:

therefore the people [that] doth not understand shall fall.

4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, [yet] let not Judah

offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to

Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.

4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the

LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

4:17 Ephraim [is] joined to idols: let him alone.

4:18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom

continually: her rulers [with] shame do love, Give ye.

4:19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be

ashamed because of their sacrifices.

5:1 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.

5:2 And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I

[have been] a rebuker of them all.

5:3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O

Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, [and] Israel is defiled.

5:4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for

the spirit of whoredoms [is] in the midst of them, and they

have not known the LORD.

5:5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore

shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also

shall fall with them.

5:6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek

the LORD; but they shall not find [him]; he hath withdrawn

himself from them.

5:7 They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they

have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them

with their portions.

5:8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, [and] the trumpet in Ramah:

cry aloud [at] Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.

5:9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the

tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

5:10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound:

[therefore] I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

5:11 Ephraim [is] oppressed [and] broken in judgment, because he

willingly walked after the commandment.

5:12 Therefore [will] I [be] unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the

house of Judah as rottenness.

5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound,

then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet

could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

5:14 For I [will be] unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion

to the house of Judah: I, [even] I, will tear and go away; I

will take away, and none shall rescue [him].

5:15 I will go [and] return to my place, till they acknowledge

their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will

seek me early.

6:1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and

he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will

raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

6:3 Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD: his

going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto

us as the rain, as the latter [and] former rain unto the earth.

6:4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I

do unto thee? for your goodness [is] as a morning cloud, and as

the early dew it goeth away.

6:5 Therefore have I hewed [them] by the prophets; I have slain

them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments [are as] the

light [that] goeth forth.

6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of

God more than burnt offerings.

6:7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have

they dealt treacherously against me.

6:8 Gilead [is] a city of them that work iniquity, [and is]

polluted with blood.

6:9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, [so] the company of

priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.

6:10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there

[is] the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

6:11 Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I

returned the captivity of my people.

7:1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of

Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they

commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, [and] the troop of

robbers spoileth without.

7:2 And they consider not in their hearts [that] I remember all

their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about;

they are before my face.

7:3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the

princes with their lies.

7:4 They [are] all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker,

[who] ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough,

until it be leavened.

7:5 In the day of our king the princes have made [him] sick with

bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

7:6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles

they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the

morning it burneth as a flaming fire.

7:7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges;

all their kings are fallen: [there is] none among them that

calleth unto me.

7:8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is

a cake not turned.

7:9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth [it]

not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he

knoweth not.

7:10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do

not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.

7:11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call

to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

7:12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will

bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise

them, as their congregation hath heard.

7:13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto

them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have

redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

7:14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they

howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and

wine, [and] they rebel against me.

7:15 Though I have bound [and] strengthened their arms, yet do

they imagine mischief against me.

7:16 They return, [but] not to the most High: they are like a

deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the

rage of their tongue: this [shall be] their derision in the

land of Egypt.

8:1 [Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. [He shall come] as an eagle

against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed

my covenant, and trespassed against my law.

8:2 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.

8:3 Israel hath cast off [the thing that is] good: the enemy

shall pursue him.

8:4 They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made

princes, and I knew [it] not: of their silver and their gold

have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.

8:5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off; mine anger is

kindled against them: how long [will it be] ere they attain to

innocency?

8:6 For from Israel [was] it also: the workman made it;

therefore it [is] not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be

broken in pieces.

8:7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the

whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so

be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

8:8 Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles

as a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure.

8:9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by

himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

8:10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I

gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of

the king of princes.

8:11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall

be unto him to sin.

8:12 I have written to him the great things of my law, [but]

they were counted as a strange thing.

8:13 They sacrifice flesh [for] the sacrifices of mine

offerings, and eat [it; but] the LORD accepteth them not; now

will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they

shall return to Egypt.

8:14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples;

and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire

upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.

9:1 Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as [other] people: for thou

hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon

every cornfloor.

9:2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new

wine shall fail in her.

9:3 They shall not dwell in the LORD'S land; but Ephraim shall

return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean [things] in

Assyria.

9:4 They shall not offer wine [offerings] to the LORD, neither

shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices [shall be]

unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall

be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into

the house of the LORD.

9:5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the

feast of the LORD?

9:6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall

gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant [places]

for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns [shall be]

in their tabernacles.

9:7 The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are

come; Israel shall know [it]: the prophet [is] a fool, the

spiritual man [is] mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity,

and the great hatred.

9:8 The watchman of Ephraim [was] with my God: [but] the prophet

[is] a snare of a fowler in all his ways, [and] hatred in the

house of his God.

9:9 They have deeply corrupted [themselves], as in the days of

Gibeah: [therefore] he will remember their iniquity, he will

visit their sins.

9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your

fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time:

[but] they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto

[that] shame; and [their] abominations were according as they

loved.

9:11 [As for] Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird,

from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.

9:12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave

them, [that there shall] not [be] a man [left]: yea, woe also

to them when I depart from them!

9:13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, [is] planted in a pleasant place:

but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.

9:14 Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a

miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

9:15 All their wickedness [is] in Gilgal: for there I hated

them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out

of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes

[are] revolters.

9:16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear

no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay [even]

the beloved [fruit] of their womb.

9:17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken

unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

10:1 Israel [is] an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto

himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath

increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land

they have made goodly images.

10:2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he

shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

10:3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared

not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?

10:4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a

covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows

of the field.

10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves

of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and

the priests thereof [that] rejoiced on it, for the glory

thereof, because it is departed from it.

10:6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria [for] a present to

king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be

ashamed of his own counsel.

10:7 [As for] Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the

water.

10:8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be

destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their

altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to

the hills, Fall on us.

10:9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there

they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of

iniquity did not overtake them.

10:10 [It is] in my desire that I should chastise them; and the

people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind

themselves in their two furrows.

10:11 And Ephraim [is as] an heifer [that is] taught, [and]

loveth to tread out [the corn]; but I passed over upon her fair

neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, [and]

Jacob shall break his clods.

10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break

up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to seek the LORD, till

he come and rain righteousness upon you.

10:13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye

have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy

way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

10:14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all

thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel

in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon

[her] children.

10:15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great

wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be

cut off.

11:1 When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my

son out of Egypt.

11:2 [As] they called them, so they went from them: they

sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

11:3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but

they knew not that I healed them.

11:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I

was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I

laid meat unto them.

11:5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the

Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.

11:6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume

his branches, and devour [them], because of their own counsels.

11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they

called them to the most High, none at all would exalt [him].

11:8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? [how] shall I deliver

thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? [how] shall I set

thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings

are kindled together.

11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not

return to destroy Ephraim: for I [am] God, and not man; the

Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the

city.

11:10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion:

when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the

west.

11:11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove

out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their

houses, saith the LORD.

11:12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of

Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is

faithful with the saints.

12:1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind:

he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a

covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.

12:2 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will

punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings

will he recompense him.

12:3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his

strength he had power with God:

12:4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept,

and made supplication unto him: he found him [in] Bethel, and

there he spake with us;

12:5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD [is] his memorial.

12:6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment,

and wait on thy God continually.

12:7 [He is] a merchant, the balances of deceit [are] in his

hand: he loveth to oppress.

12:8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out

substance: [in] all my labours they shall find none iniquity in

me that [were] sin.

12:9 And I [that am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt

will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of

the solemn feast.

12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied

visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.

12:11 [Is there] iniquity [in] Gilead? surely they are vanity:

they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars [are] as

heaps in the furrows of the fields.

12:12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel

served for a wife, and for a wife he kept [sheep].

12:13 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and

by a prophet was he preserved.

12:14 Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly: therefore

shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his

Lord return unto him.

13:1 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel;

but when he offended in Baal, he died.

13:2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten

images of their silver, [and] idols according to their own

understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of

them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

13:3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the

early dew that passeth away, as the chaff [that] is driven with

the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the

chimney.

13:4 Yet I [am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and

thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no saviour beside

me.

13:5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great

drought.

13:6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were

filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they

forgotten me.

13:7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by

the way will I observe [them]:

13:8 I will meet them as a bear [that is] bereaved [of her

whelps], and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will

I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

13:9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me [is] thine

help.

13:10 I will be thy king: where [is any other] that may save

thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst,

Give me a king and princes?

13:11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took [him] away in

my wrath.

13:12 The iniquity of Ephraim [is] bound up; his sin [is] hid.

13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he

[is] an unwise son; for he should not stay long in [the place

of] the breaking forth of children.

13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will

redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O

grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from

mine eyes.

13:15 Though he be fruitful among [his] brethren, an east wind

shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the

wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain

shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant

vessels.

13:16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled

against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants

shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be

ripped up.

14:1 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast

fallen by thine iniquity.

14:2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him,

Take away all iniquity, and receive [us] graciously: so will we

render the calves of our lips.

14:3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses:

neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, [Ye are]

our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for

mine anger is turned away from him.

14:5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the

lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

14:6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the

olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

14:7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall

revive [as] the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof

[shall be] as the wine of Lebanon.

14:8 Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols?

I have heard [him], and observed him: I [am] like a green fir

tree. From me is thy fruit found.

14:9 Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]?

prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD [are]

right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors

shall fall therein.

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