nkjv Hosea:1-7 SEEK
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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 .
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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 ."
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So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim ,
and she conceived and bore him a son .
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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 .
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It shall come to pass in that day That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel ."
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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 .
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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 ."
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Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah ,
she conceived and bore a son .
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Then God said : "
Call his name Lo-Ammi ,
For you are not My people ,
And I will not be your God .
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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 .'
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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 !
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Say to your brethren , "
My people ,'
And to your sisters , "
Mercy is shown .'
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Bring charges against your mother ,
bring charges ;
For she is not My wife ,
nor am I her Husband !
Let her put away her harlotries from her sight ,
And her adulteries from between her breasts ;
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Lest I strip her naked And expose her ,
as in the day she was born ,
And make her like a wilderness ,
And set her like a dry land ,
And slay her with thirst .
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I will not have mercy on her children ,
For they are the children of harlotry .
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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 .'
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Therefore ,
behold ,
I will hedge up your way with thorns ,
And wall her in ,
So that she cannot find her paths .
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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 .'
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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 .
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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 .
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Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers ,
And no one shall deliver her from My hand .
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I will also cause all her mirth to cease ,
Her feast days ,
Her New Moons ,
Her Sabbaths --
All her appointed feasts .
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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 .
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I will punish her For the days of the Baals 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 .
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Therefore ,
behold ,
I will allure her ,
Will bring her into the wilderness ,
And speak comfort to her .
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I will give her her vineyards from there ,
And the Valley of Achor as a 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 .
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And it shall be ,
in that day ,"
Says the LORD , "
That you will call Me "
My Husband ,'
And no longer call Me "
My Master ,'
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For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals ,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more .
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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 .
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I will betroth you to Me forever ;
Yes ,
I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice ,
In lovingkindness and mercy ;
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I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness ,
And you shall know the LORD .
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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 .
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The earth shall answer With grain ,
With new wine ,
And with oil ;
They shall answer Jezreel .
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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 !"'
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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 raisin cakes of the pagans ."
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So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver ,
and one and one-half homers of barley .
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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 toward you ."
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For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince ,
without sacrifice or sacred pillar ,
without ephod or teraphim .
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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 .
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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 .
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By swearing and lying ,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery ,
They break all restraint ,
With bloodshed upon bloodshed .
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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 .
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Now let no man contend ,
or rebuke another ;
For your people are like those who contend with the priest .
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Therefore you shall stumble in the day ;
The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night ;
And I will destroy your mother .
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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 .
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The more they increased ,
The more they sinned against Me ;
I will change their glory into shame .
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They eat up the sin of My people ;
They set their heart on their iniquity .
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And it shall be :
like people ,
like priest .
So I will punish them for their ways ,
And reward them for their deeds .
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For they shall eat ,
but not have enough ;
They shall commit harlotry ,
but not increase ;
Because they have ceased obeying the LORD .
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Harlotry ,
wine ,
and new wine enslave the heart .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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Though you ,
Israel ,
play the harlot ,
Let not Judah offend .
Do not come up to Gilgal ,
Nor go up to Beth Aven ,
Nor swear an oath ,
saying , "
As the LORD lives '--
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For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf ;
Now the LORD will let them forage Like a lamb in open country .
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Ephraim is joined to idols ,
Let him alone .
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Their drink is rebellion ,
They commit harlotry continually .
Her rulers dearly love dishonor .
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The wind has wrapped her up in its wings ,
And they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices .
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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 a net spread on Tabor .
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The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter ,
Though I rebuke them all .
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I know Ephraim ,
And Israel is not hidden from Me ;
For now ,
O Ephraim ,
you commit harlotry ;
Israel is defiled .
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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 .
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The pride of Israel testifies to his face ;
Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity ;
Judah also stumbles with them .
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With their flocks and herds They shall go to seek the LORD ,
But they will not find Him ;
He has withdrawn Himself from them .
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They have dealt treacherously with the LORD ,
For they have begotten pagan children .
Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage .
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Blow the ram '
s horn in Gibeah ,
The trumpet in Ramah !
Cry aloud at Beth Aven , "
Look behind you ,
O Benjamin !'
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Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke ;
Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure .
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The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark ;
I will pour out My wrath on them like water .
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Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment ,
Because he willingly walked by human precept .
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Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth ,
And to the house of Judah like rottenness .
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When Ephraim saw his sickness ,
And Judah saw his wound ,
Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb ;
Yet he cannot cure you ,
Nor heal you of your wound .
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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 .
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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 ."
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Come ,
and let us return to the LORD ;
For He has torn ,
but He will heal us ;
He has stricken ,
but He will bind us up .
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After two days He will revive us ;
On the third day He will raise us up ,
That we may live in His sight .
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Let us know ,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD .
His going forth is established as the morning ;
He will come to us like the rain ,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth .
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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 .
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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 .
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For I desire mercy and not sacrifice ,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings .
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But like men they transgressed the covenant ;
There they dealt treacherously with Me .
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Gilead is a city of evildoers And defiled with blood .
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As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man ,
So the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem ;
Surely they commit lewdness .
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I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel :
There is the harlotry of Ephraim ;
Israel is defiled .
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Also ,
O Judah ,
a harvest is appointed for you ,
When I return the captives of My people .
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When I would have healed Israel ,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered ,
And the wickedness of Samaria .
For they have committed fraud ;
A thief comes in ;
A band of robbers takes spoil outside .
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They do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness ;
Now their own deeds have surrounded them ;
They are before My face .
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They make a king glad with their wickedness ,
And princes with their lies .
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They are all adulterers .
Like an oven heated by a baker --
He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough ,
Until it is leavened .
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In the day of our king Princes have made him sick ,
inflamed with wine ;
He stretched out his hand with scoffers .
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They prepare their heart like an oven ,
While they lie in wait ;
Their baker sleeps all night ;
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire .
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They are all hot ,
like an oven ,
And have devoured their judges ;
All their kings have fallen .
None among them calls upon Me .
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Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples ;
Ephraim is a cake unturned .
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Aliens have devoured his strength ,
But he does not know it ;
Yes ,
gray hairs are here and there on him ,
Yet he does not know it .
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And the pride of Israel testifies to his face ,
But they do not return to the LORD their God ,
Nor seek Him for all this .
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Ephraim also is like a silly dove ,
without sense --
They call to Egypt ,
They go to Assyria .
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Wherever they go ,
I will spread My net on them ;
I will bring them down like birds of the air ;
I will chastise them According to what their congregation has heard .
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Woe to them ,
for they have fled from Me !
Destruction to them ,
Because they have transgressed against Me !
Though I redeemed them ,
Yet they have spoken lies against Me .
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They did not cry out to Me with their heart When they wailed upon their beds . "
They assemble together for grain and new wine ,
They rebel against Me ;
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Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms ,
Yet they devise evil against Me ;
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They return ,
but not to the Most High ;
They are like a treacherous bow .
Their princes shall fall by the sword For the cursings of their tongue .
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt .
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Set the trumpet to your mouth !
He shall come like an eagle against the house of the LORD ,
Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law .