and in judgment, in mercy and in grace;

Yea, in faith will I betroth myself unto thee; and thou shalt know the LORD.

In that day, saith the LORD, will I hear; I will hear heaven; and heaven shall hear the earth.

And the earth shall yield corn, and wine, and oil: and they shall yield Jezreel.

And I will keep them for my seed upon the earth, and will have mercy upon them that were in disgrace, and will say unto them that were not my people, Thou art my people: and they shall say, Thou art my God.
(Hosea)
Chapter 3
Of mankind’s unfaithfulness and God’s longsuffering.

And the LORD said unto me, Go yet one more, and woo the woman that is covetous and adulterous, as the LORD woos the children of Israel, and they turn unto strange gods, and woo a flagon of wine.

And I was one with her for fifteen shekels of silver, and an homer and a half of barley.

And he said unto her, Take hold of me for a season, and be not a harlot, and let no other come unto thee: for I will take hold of thee also.

For the children of Israel shall be long without king, and without princes, and without
sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without sanctuary.

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and shall honour the LORD and his mercy in the latter days.
(Hosea)
Chapter 4
Sermon of punishment, directed against the sin of the Israelites.

Hear, ye children of Israel, the word of the LORD: for the LORD hath cause to rebuke them that dwell in the land. For there is no faithfulness, no love, no word of God in the land, 2. But blasphemy, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery, have abounded, and come one bloodguilt after another.

Therefore shall the land be desolate, and all the inhabitants thereof shall perish: for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, shall be taken away.

But rebuke not, neither rebuke any: for my people are as they that rebuke the priests.

Therefore thou shalt fall by day, and the prophet shall fall by night beside thee: so will I put thy mother to death.

My people are gone, because they will not learn. For thou rejectest the word of God; therefore will I reject thee also, that thou shouldest not be my priest. Thou forgettest the law of thy God; therefore will I also forget thy children.

The more they are, the more they sin against me: therefore will I put their glory to shame.

They devour the sin offerings of my people, and are eager for their sins.

Therefore it shall be unto the people as unto the priest: for I will punish their doings, and will recompense them according to their deserts,

That they should eat, and not be satisfied, and commit fornication; and they shall not prosper, because they have forsaken the LORD, and have no respect unto him.

fornication, wine and must make great.

My people shall inquire of their wood, and their staff shall preach unto them: for the spirit of whoredom deceiveth them, that they should commit whoredom against their God.

They sacrifice upon the top of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under the oaks, and under the lindens, and under the beeches; for they have fine shadows. Therefore shall your daughters also become harlots, and your brides adulteresses.

Neither will I forbid it, if your daughters and your brides be defiled, and become harlots, because ye have worshipped with harlots, and sacrificed with harlots. For the foolish people will be beaten.

Wilt thou, O Israel, go to whoredom, lest Judah also be guilty? Go not to Gilgal, and come not up to Bethaven, and swear not, As the LORD liveth.

For Israel walketh as a mad heifer; so shall the LORD feed her as a lamb in the wilderness.

For Ephraim hath sat down with idols: let him go.

They have given themselves to revelry and whoredom: their lords delight in them, that they may bring shame.

The wind with his wings shall drive them bound, and shall be ashamed of their sacrifice.
(Hosea)
Chapter 5
Both kingdoms are threatened with God’s just punishment for the sake of sin.

Hear now therefore, ye priests, and take heed, O house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king: for there shall be a punishment upon you, which are a snare in Mizpeh, and a net stretched out in Tabor.

With slaughter they deepen in their going astray: therefore must I punish them all.

I know Ephraim well, and Israel is not hid from me: now Ephraim is a harlot, and Israel is unclean.

They think not to return unto their God: for they have a whoredom in their heart, and teach not of the Lord.

Therefore the pride of Israel shall be humbled before their face, and both Israel and Ephraim shall fall for their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

Then shall they come with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD, but shall not
find him: for he is turned away from them.

They despise the LORD, and beget strange children: therefore shall the new moon devour them with their inheritance.

Yea, blow ye trumpets at Gibeah; yea, sound ye the trumpet at Ramah; yea, cry unto Bethaven, Behind thee, Benjamin.

For Ephraim shall be a desolation in the day that I punish them. Before this I have faithfully warned the tribes of Israel.
(Hosea)
Chapter 6
God’s punishment and chastening provokes repentance.

The princes of Judah are like unto them that draw the border: therefore will I pour out mine anger upon them as water.

Ephraim suffereth violence, and is afflicted; and it is meet for him: for he hath given himself to the commandment of men.

I am a moth to Ephraim, and a maggot to the house of Judah.

And when Ephraim felt his sickness, and Judah his wounds, Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the king of Jareb: but he could not heal you, nor heal your wounds.

For I am as a lion to Ephraim, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, I will rend them, and go away, and lead them away, and none can save them.

Again, I will go to my place, until they know their iniquity, and seek my face: and if it be evil in them, they shall seek me early:
Ch. 6, v. 1. Come, let us return to the Lord. For he hath rent us, he will also heal us; he hath smitten us, he will also bind us up.

He maketh us alive after two days: he will raise us up the third day, that we may live before him.

Then shall we take heed, and be diligent to know the LORD. For he shall break forth as the beautiful dawn, and shall come upon us as the rain, as the rain that maketh the land wet.

How will I do both to thee, Ephraim? How will I do well unto thee, O Judah! For the mercy that I will shew you shall be as the dew of the morning, and as the dew that spreadeth early in the morning.

Therefore will I smite them by the prophets, and slay them by the words of my mouth, that thy judgment may come to light.

For I delight in love, and not in sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God, and not in burnt offering.

But they transgress the covenant, as Adam did; in this they despise me.

For Gilead is a city of idolatry and bloodshed,

And the priests and their company are as the stumblers, which lie in wait for the people, and choke them in the way that goeth to Shechem: for they do what they will.

I see in the house of Israel that I am afraid: for Ephraim hath fornicated, and Israel hath defiled himself.

But Judah shall yet have a harvest before her, when I shall turn the prison of my people.
(Hosea)
Chapter 7
Lamentation over Israel and proclamation of the deserved punishments.

If I will heal Israel, first find the sin of Ephraim, and the wickedness of Samaria, how they do idolatry. For though they be plagued with thieves among themselves, and with robbers by heart,

Yet will they not know that I perceive all their wickedness. But I see their wickedness, which they do in every place.

They put off the king by their wickedness, and the princes by their lies.

And they are all adulterers, as an oven which the baker heats when he hath kneaded it, and leaveneth and riseth the dough.

This day is the feast of our king, and the princes begin to be mad with wine: so he sendeth the scoffers unto him.

For their heart is in hot devotion, as an oven, when they sacrifice, and when they deceive the people: but their baker sleepeth all night, and in the morning he burneth brightly.

They are yet as hot with devotion as an oven. Though their judges be eaten up, and all their kings fall, yet there is none among them that calleth unto me.

Ephraim is mixed among the nations: Ephraim is like a cake that no man turneth over, 9. But strangers eat up his strength; yet will he not know it. He also hath gray hairs; yet will he not know it.

And the pride of Israel is humbled before their eyes: yet turn they not unto the LORD their God, neither inquire of him in all this.

For Ephraim is like a tempted dove, that will not perceive. Now they call Egypt, then they run to Assyria.

But as they go to and fro, I will cast my net over them, and will come down as the fowls of