1   The word of the Lord that came to 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.

2   The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go take to thee a wife addicted to lewdness and children of lewdness;

Before CHRIST, 785. for the land hath committed great lewdness, departing from the Lord.

3   So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; who conceived, and bore him a son.

4   And the Lord said to him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will ^note avenge 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 come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

6   ¶2; And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And God said to him, Call her name ^note Lo-ruhamah: for ^note I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; ^note but I will utterly take them away.

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.

8   ¶2; Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son.

9   Then said God, Call his name ^note Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

10   ¶2; Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; ^note and it shall come to pass, that ^note in the place where it was said to them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said to them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

11    ^noteThen shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be assembled, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up from the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel. CHAP. II. 1 The idolatry of the people. 6 God's judgments against them. 14 His promises of reconciliation with them.

1   Say ye to your brethren, ^note Ammi; and to your sisters, ^note Ruhamah.

2   Plead with your mother, plead: for ^note she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her ^note prostitutions out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

3   Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was ^note born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.

4   And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of lewdness.

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, my oil and my ^note drink.

6   ¶2; Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and ^note make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

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.

8   For she did not know that I gave her corn, and ^note wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, ^note which they prepared for Baal.

9   Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will ^note recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.

10   And now will I disclose her ^note lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

11   I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

12   And I will ^note destroy her vines and her fig-trees, of which 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.

13   And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, in which she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her ear-rings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord.

14   ¶2; Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak ^note comfortably to her.

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 from the land of Egypt.

16   And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me ^note Ishi; and shalt call me no more ^note Baali.

17   For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

18   And in that day will I make a ^note covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping animals 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 in safety.

19   And I will betroth thee to me for ever; yes, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.

20   I will even betroth thee to me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.

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;

22   And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

23   And I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I ^note will say to them who were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God. CHAP. III. 1 By the expiation of an adulteress, 4 is shown

Before CHRIST, 780. the desolation of Israel before their restoration.

1   Then said the Lord to me, Go yet, love a woman beloved by her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord towards the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons ^note of wine.

2   So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer of barley, and a ^note half homer of barley:

3   And I said to her, Thou shalt ^note 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.

4   For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without ^note an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

5   Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and ^note David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the ^note latter days. CHAP. IV. 1 God's judgments against the sins of the people, 6 and of the priests, 12 and against their idolatry. 15 Judah is exhorted to take warning by Israel's calamity.

1   Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a ^note controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

2   By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and ^note blood toucheth blood.

3   Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yes, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

4   Yet let no man contend, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that contend with the priest.

5   Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will ^note destroy thy mother.

6   ¶2; My people are ^note 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.

7   As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.

8   They eat up the sin of my people, and they ^note set their heart on their iniquity.

9   And there shall be, ^note like people, like priest: and I will ^note punish them for their ways, and ^note reward them their doings.

10   For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall be guilty of lewdness, and shall not increase: because they have ceased to take heed to the Lord.

11   Lewdness and wine and new wine take away the heart.

12   ¶2; My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth to them: for the spirit of lewdness hath caused them to err, and they have gone astray from under their God.

13   They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shade of them is agreeable: therefore your daughters shall be guilty of lewdness, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

14    ^noteI will not punish your daughters when they are guilty of lewdness, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for they themselves are separated with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall ^note fall.

15   ¶2; Though thou, Israel, playest the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye to Gilgal, neither go ye up to ^note Beth-aven, nor swear, The Lord liveth.

16   For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

17   Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.

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

19   The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. CHAP. V. 1 God's judgments against the priests, the people, and the princes of Israel, for their manifold sins, 15 until they repent.

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

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

3   I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou art guilty of lewdness, and Israel is defiled.

4    ^{note note}They will not frame their doings to turn to their God: for the spirit of lewdness is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.

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.

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.

7   They have dealt treacherously against the Lord: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

8   Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin.

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

Before CHRIST, 780. have I made known that which shall surely be.

10   The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11   Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

12   Therefore will I be to Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as ^note rottenness.

13   When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to the Assyrian, and sent ^note to king Jareb: yet he could not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

14   For I will be to 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.

15   ¶2; I will go and return to my place, ^note till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. CHAP. VI 1 An exhortation to repentance. 4 A complaint of their perverseness and iniquity.

1   Come, and let us return to the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

2    ^noteAfter two days will he revive us: in the third day will he raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

3   Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he will come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth.

4   ¶2; O Ephraim, what shall I do to thee? O Judah, what shall I do to thee? for your ^note goodness is as the morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

5   Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: ^note and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.

6   For I desired ^note mercy, and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.

7   But they ^note like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

8   Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is ^note polluted with blood.

9   And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way ^note by consent: for they commit ^note lewdness.

10   I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the prostitution of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

11   Also, O Judah, he hath set a harvest for thee, when I ^note returned the captivity of my people. CHAP. VII. 1 A reproof of manifold sins. 11 God's wrath against the people for their hypocrisy.

1   When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was disclosed, and the ^note wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers strippeth without.

2   And they ^note consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them around; they are before my face.

3   They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

4   They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, ^note who ceaseth ^note from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it is leavened.

5   In the day of our king the princes have made him sick ^note with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

6   For they have ^note made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. ^note

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 to me.

8   Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

9   Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yes, gray hairs are ^note here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

10   And the ^note pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this.

11   ¶2; Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

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.

13   Woe to them! for they have fled from me: ^note destruction to them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

14   And they have not cried to me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.

15   Though I ^note have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.

16   They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the ^note rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt. CHAP. VIII. 1, 12 Destruction is threatened for their impiety, 5 and idolatry.

1   Set the trumpet to ^note 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.

2   Israel shall cry to me, My God, we know thee.

Before CHRIST, 760.

3   Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.

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 for themselves idols, that they may be cut off.

5   ¶2; Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; my anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocence?

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.

7   For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no ^note stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if it shall yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

8   Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel in which is no pleasure.

9   For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired ^note lovers.

10   Yes, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall ^note sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes.

11   Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be to him to sin.

12   I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.

13    ^noteThey sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of my 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.

14   For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. CHAP. IX. The distress and captivity of Israel for their sins and idolatry.

1   Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast apostatized from thy God, thou hast loved ^note a reward ^note upon every corn-floor.

2   The floor and the ^note wine-press shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.

3   They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.

4   They shall not offer wine-offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing to him: their sacrifices shall be to them as the bread of mourners; all that eat of it shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord.

5   What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord?

6   For lo, they are gone because of ^note destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: ^{note note} the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.

7   The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the ^note spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thy iniquity, and the great hatred.

8   The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred ^note in the house of his God.

9   They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of ^note Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.

10   I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig-tree at her first time: but they went to ^note Baal-peor, and separated themselves to that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

11   As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.

12   Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yes, woe also to them when I depart from them!

13   Ephraim, as I saw Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.

14   Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a ^note miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15   All their wickedness ^note is in Gilgal: ^note for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.

16   Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yes, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even ^note the beloved fruit of their womb.

17   My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken to him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations. CHAP. X. Israel is reproved and threatened for their impiety and idolatry.

1   Israel is ^note an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit to himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath multiplied the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly ^note images.

2    ^noteTheir heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall ^note break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

3   For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord; what then should a king do to us?

4   They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

5   The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for its people shall mourn over it, and

Before CHRIST, 760. ^note its priests that rejoiced on it, for its glory, because it is departed from it.

6   It shall also be carried to Assyria, for a present to ^note king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

7   As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon ^note the water.

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; ^note and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

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   It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, ^note when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.

11   And Ephraim is as a heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon ^note her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.

12   Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; ^note break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he shall come and reign righteousness upon you.

13   Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou hast trusted in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

14   Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be plundered, as Shalman plundered ^note Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.

15   So shall Beth-el do to you because of ^note your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel be utterly cut off. CHAP. XI. 1 The ingratitude of Israel to God for his benefits: 5 His judgment. 8 God's mercy towards them.

1   When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and ^note called my son out of Egypt.

2   As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed to Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

3   I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.

4   I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that ^note take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid food for them.

5   ¶2; He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.

6   And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

7   And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, ^note none at all would exalt him.

8   How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as ^note Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? my heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

9   I will not execute the fierceness of my 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.

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   They shall ^note 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.

12   Ephraim encompasseth me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful ^note with the saints. CHAP. XII. 1 A reproof of Ephraim, Judah, and Jacob. 3 By former favors he exhorteth to repentance. 7 Ephraim's sins provoke God.

1   Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily multiplieth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.

2   The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will ^note punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.

3   ¶2; He took his brother ^note by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he ^{note note} had power with God:

4   Yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in ^note Bethel, and there he spoke with us;

5   Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his ^note memorial.

6   Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

7   ¶2; He is ^note a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to ^note oppress.

8   And Ephraim said, Yet I have become rich, I have found for myself substance: ^note in all my labors they shall find no iniquity in me ^note that were sin.

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.

10   I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes ^note by the ministry of the prophets.

11   Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in ^note Gilgal; yes, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.

12   And Jacob ^note fled into the country of Syria, and Israel ^note served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

13    ^noteAnd by a prophet the Lord

Before CHRIST, 725. brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.

14   Ephraim provoked him to anger ^note most bitterly: therefore will he leave his ^note blood upon him, and his reproach will his Lord return to him. CHAP. XIII. 1 Ephraim's glory, by reason of idolatry, vanisheth. 5 God's anger for their unkindness. 9 A promise of God's mercy. 15 A judgment for rebellion.

1   When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.

2   And now ^note 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 artificers: they say of them, Let ^note the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

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 from the floor, and as the smoke from the chimney.

4   Yet ^note I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but me: for there is no savior besides me.

5   ¶2; I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drouth.

6   According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.

7   Therefore I will be to them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them.

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: ^note the wild beast shall tear them.

9   ¶2; O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me ^note is thy help.

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?

11   I gave thee a ^note king in my anger, and took him away in my wrath.

12   The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.

13   The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay ^note long in the place of the breaking forth of children.

14   I will ransom them from ^note the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: ^note O death, I will be thy plagues, O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from my eyes.

15   ¶2; Though he is fruitful among his brethren, ^note 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 pillage the treasure of all ^note pleasant vessels.

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. CHAP. XIV. 1 An exhortation to repentance. 4 A promise of God's blessing.

1   O Israel, return to the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thy iniquity.

2   Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say to him, Take away all iniquity, and ^note receive us graciously: so will we render the ^note calves of our lips.

3   Ashur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of your hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

4   ¶2; I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for my anger is turned away from him.

5   I will be as the dew to Israel: he shall ^note grow as the lily and ^note cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

6   His branches ^note shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

7   They that dwell under his shade shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and ^note grow as the vine: the ^note scent of it shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

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.

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 in them.

Previous section

Next section