Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today we begin the book of Hosea,
and we are going to read chapters 1 through 6.
Chapter 1. The word of the Lord that came to
Hosea the son of Beeri in the days of Hosea,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and
in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king
of Israel. When the Lord began to speak by Hosea,
the Lord said to Hosea, Go take yourself a wife
of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the
land has committed great harlotry by departing
from the Lord. So he went and took Gomer, the
daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore
him a son. Then the Lord said to him, Call his
name Jezreel, for in a little while I will avenge
the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu,
and bring an end to the kingdom of the house
of Israel. It shall come to pass in that day
that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley
of Jezreel. And she conceived again and bore
a daughter. Then God said to him, Call her name
Lo -Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy
on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take
them away. Yet I will have mercy on the house
of Judah, will save them by the Lord their God,
and will not save them by bow, nor by sword or
battle, by horses or horsemen. Now when she had
weaned Lo -Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a
son. Then God said, Call his name Lo -Ammi, for
you are not my people, and I will not be your
God. Yet the number of the children of Israel
shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot
be measured or numbered. And it shall come to
pass, in the place where it was said to them,
You are not my people, there it shall be said
to them, You are sons of the living God. Then
the children of Judah and the children of Israel
shall be gathered together and appoint for themselves
one head, and they shall come up out of the land.
For great will be the day of Jezreel. and make
her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry
land, and slay her with thirst. I will not have
mercy on her children, for they are the children
of harlotry. For their mother has played the
harlot, she who conceived them has behaved shamefully.
For she said, I will go after my lovers, who
give me my bread and my water, my wool and my
linen, my oil and my drink. Therefore, behold,
I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall
her in. so that she cannot find her path. She
will chase her lovers, but not overtake them.
Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then
she will say, I will go and return to my first
husband, for then it was better for me than now,
for she did not know that I gave her grain, new
wine and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold,
which they prepared for Baal. Therefore I will
return and take away my grain in its time, and
my new wine in its season, and will take back
my wool and my linen. Given to cover her nakedness.
Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight
of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her from
my hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease,
her feast days, her new moons, her sabbaths,
all her appointed feasts. And I will destroy
her vines and her fig trees, of which she has
said, These are my wages that my lovers have
given me. So I will make them a forest, and the
beasts of the field shall eat them. I will punish
her for the days of the bales to which she burned
incense. She decked herself with her earrings
and jewelry and went after her lovers, but me
she forgot, says the Lord. Therefore, behold,
I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness,
and speak comfort to her. I will give her her
vineyards from there. and the valley of Acre
as her door of hope. She shall sing there as
in the days of her youth, as in the day when
she came up from the land of Egypt. And it shall
be in that day, says the Lord, that you will
call me my husband, and no longer call me my
master. For I will take from her mouth the names
of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by
their name no more. In that day I will make a
covenant for them with the beasts of the field,
with the birds of the air, and with the creeping
things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle
I will shatter from the earth to make them lie
down safely. I will betroth you to me forever.
Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness
and justice, in loving kindness and mercy. I
will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you
shall know the Lord. It shall come to pass in
that day. that I will answer, says the Lord,
I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer
the earth. The earth shall answer with grain,
with new wine, and with oil. They shall answer
Jezreel. Then I will sow her for myself in the
earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not
obtained mercy. Then I will say to those who
were not my people, You are my people, and they
shall say, You are my God. Then the Lord said
to me, Go again, love a woman who is loved by
a lover and is committing adultery, just like
the love of the Lord for the children of Israel,
who look to other gods and love the raising cakes
of the pagans. So I bought her for myself for
fifteen shekels of silver and one and one half
homers of barley. And I said to her, You shall
stay with me many days. You shall not play the
harlot, nor shall you have a man. So too will
I be towards you. For the children of Israel
shall abide many days without king or prince,
without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod
or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel
shall return and seek the Lord their God and
David their king. They shall fear the Lord and
his goodness in the latter days. Chapter 4 Hear
the word of the Lord, you children of Israel,
for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants
of the land. There is no truth or mercy or knowledge
of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing
and stealing, and committing adultery, they break
all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed.
Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who
dwells there will waste away. With the beasts
of the field, and the birds of the air, even
the fish of the sea will be taken away. Let no
man contend, or rebuke another, for your people
are like those who contend with the priest. Therefore
you shall stumble in the day. The priest also
shall stumble with you in the night, and I will
destroy your mother. My people are destroyed
for lack of knowledge because you have rejected
knowledge. I also will reject you from being
priest for me. Because you have forgotten the
law of your God, I also will forget your children.
The more they increased, the more they sinned
against me. I will change their glory into shame.
They eat up the sin of my people. They set their
heart on their iniquity. And it shall be like
people, like priests. So I will punish them for
their ways, and reward them for their deeds.
For they shall eat, but not have enough. They
shall commit harlotry, but not increase, because
they have ceased obeying the Lord. Harlotry,
wine, and new wine enslave the heart. My people
ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their
staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry
has caused them to stray, and they have played
the harlot against their god. They offer sacrifices
on the mountaintops, and burn incense on the
hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because
their shade is good. Therefore your daughters
commit harlotry, and your brides commit adultery.
I will not punish your daughters when they commit
harlotry, nor your brides when they commit adultery.
For the men themselves go apart with harlots
and offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore
people who do not understand will be trampled.
Though you, Israel, play the harlot, let not
Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, nor go
up to Beth -Avon, nor swear an oath, saying,
As the Lord lives. For Israel is stubborn, like
a stubborn calf. Now the Lord will let them forage,
like a lamb in open country. Ephraim is joined
to idols. Let him alone. Their drink is rebellion.
They commit harlotry continually. Her rulers
dearly love dishonor. The wind has wrapped her
up in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because
of their sacrifices. Chapter 5 Hear this, O priests.
Take heed, O house of Israel. Give ear, O house
of the king. For yours is the judgment, because
you have been a snare to Mizpah. And the net
spread on Tabor. The revolters are deeply involved
in slaughter. Though I rebuke them all, I know
Ephraim and Israel is not hidden from me. For
now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry, Israel is
defiled. They do not direct their deeds toward
turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry
is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore
Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity,
Judah also stumbles with them. With their flocks
and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but
they will not find him. He has withdrawn himself
from them. They have dealt treacherously with
the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children.
Now a new moon shall devour them and their heritage.
Blow the ram's horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in
Ramah. Cry aloud at Beth -Avon. Look behind you,
O Benjamin. Ephraim shall be desolate in a day
of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I make
known what is sure. The princes of Judah are
like those who remove a landmark. I will pour
out my wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed
and broken in judgment, because he willingly
walked by human precept. Therefore I will be
to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah
like rottenness. When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to
Assyria and sent to king Jerob. Yet he cannot
cure you nor heal you of your wound, for I will
be like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion
to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them
and go away. I will take them away and no one
shall rescue. I will return again to my place
till they acknowledge their offense. Then they
will seek my face. In their affliction they will
earnestly seek me. O Ephraim, what shall I do
to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? for
your faithfulness is like a morning cloud and
like the early dew it goes away therefore i have
hewn them by the prophets i have slain them by
the words of my mouth and your judgments are
like light that goes forth for i desire mercy
and not sacrifice and the knowledge of god more
than burnt offerings but like men they transgressed
the covenant there they dealt treacherously with
me gilead is a city of evildoers and defiled
with blood As bands of robbers line wait for
a man, so the company of priests murder on the
way to Shechem. Surely they commit lewdness.
I have seen a horrible thing in the house of
Israel. There is the harlotry of Ephraim. Israel
is defiled. Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed
for you when I return the captives of my people.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as
I did. And I look forward to seeing you again
tomorrow to continue on our journey. God bless
you and have a great day.