Hosea 5
About HoseaWritten by AI
Hosea is the first of the twelve shorter prophets, sometimes called the Minor Prophets because the books are short, not because they matter less. Hosea preached in the northern kingdom of Israel in the 700s BC, in its last decades before Assyria swept it away. Kings came and went quickly, and the people mixed the worship of the LORD with the worship of Baal.
The book's picture is a marriage. God tells Hosea to marry Gomer, who will be unfaithful, and Hosea's heartbreak becomes a living sermon about Israel turning from God. Readers have long asked whether this was a literal marriage or a story told to make the point; most take it as real, and either way the pain is real.
Watch how quickly the book swings between judgment and tenderness. God is wounded, not merely angry, and He keeps coming back. The last word is an invitation to return and a promise: “I will freely love them.”
Before you read Hosea 5Written by AI
Judgment comes to both kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. When Ephraim saw its sickness, it went to Assyria for help instead of to God. Watch the image of God as a lion who withdraws and waits until His people admit their guilt and seek His face.
Judgment on Israel and Judah
“Hear this, O priests!
Take heed, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O royal house!
For this judgment is against you
because you have been a snare at Mizpah,
a net spread out on Tabor.
The rebels are deep in slaughter;
but I will chastise them all.
I know all about Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from Me.
For now, O Ephraim,
you have turned to prostitution;
Israel is defiled.
Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God,
for a spirit of prostitution is within them,
and they do not know the LORD.
Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
even Judah stumbles with them.
They go with their flocks and herds
to seek the LORD,
but they do not find Him;
He has withdrawn Himself from them.
They have been unfaithful to the LORD;
for they have borne illegitimate children.
Now the New Moon will devour them
along with their land.
Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah;
raise the battle cry in Beth-aven:
Lead on, O Benjamin!
Ephraim will be laid waste
on the day of rebuke.
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.
The princes of Judah
are like those who move boundary stones;
I will pour out My fury
upon them like water.
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
for he is determined to follow worthless idols.
So I am like a moth to Ephraim,
and like decay to the house of Judah.
When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria
and sent to the great king.
But he cannot cure you
or heal your wound.
For I am like a lion to Ephraim
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear them to pieces
and then go away.
I will carry them off
where no one can rescue them.
Then I will return to My place
until they admit their guilt and seek My face;
in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”