Lexicon :: Strong's H3478 - yiśrā'ēl

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.

Yet the number of the [fn]sons of Israel

Shall be like the sand of the sea,

Which cannot be measured or numbered;

And in the place

Where it is said to them,

“You are not My people,”

It will be said to them,

“You are the sons of the living God.”

Then the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman ([fn]Gomer) who is beloved by her husband and yet is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the [fn]children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love the raisin cakes [used in the feasts in pagan worship].”

Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel,

For the LORD has a [legal] case with the inhabitants of the land,

Because there is no faithfulness [no steadfast love, no dependability] or loyalty or kindness

Or knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.

Though you, Israel, play the prostitute [by worshiping idols],

Do not let Judah become guilty [of the same thing];

And do not go to Gilgal [where idols are worshiped],

Or go up to [fn]Beth-aven (House of Wickedness),

Nor swear [oaths in idolatrous worship, saying],

“As the LORD lives!”

Hear this and pay close attention, O priests!

Give heed, O house of Israel!

Listen, O house of the king!

For the [pronounced] judgment pertains to you and is meant for you to hear,

Because you have been a snare at Mizpah

And a net spread out over Tabor (military strongholds on either side of the Jordan River).

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;

For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols;

Israel has defiled itself.

But the pride and self-reliance of Israel testifies against him.

Therefore Israel, and [especially] [fn]Ephraim, stumble and fall in their wickedness and guilt;

[fn]Judah also has stumbled with them.

Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke;

Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is certain.

I have seen a horrible thing [sins of every kind] in the house of Israel!

Ephraim’s prostitution (idolatry) is there; Israel has defiled itself.

When I would heal Israel,

The sin (guilt) of Ephraim is uncovered,

And the wickedness of [fn]Samaria,

Because they practice false dealing;

The thief enters,

Bandits ravage and raid outside.

Though the pride of Israel testifies against him,

Yet they do not return [in repentance] to the LORD their God,

Nor seek nor search for nor desire Him [as essential] in spite of all this.

Then they will cry out to Me,

“My God, we of Israel know You!”

For even this [loathsome calf] is from Israel.

A craftsman made it, so it is not God;

Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces and go up in flames.

Israel is [as if] swallowed up [by enemies];

They are now among the nations

Like a vessel [of cheap, coarse pottery] that is useless.

For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces [and pagan temples],

And Judah has built many fortified cities;

But I will send a fire upon their cities so that it may consume their palaces and fortresses.

Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation as do the [pagan] peoples,

For you have played the prostitute, turning away from your God.

You have loved prostitutes’ earnings on every threshing floor [attributing the harvest to the Baals instead of to God].

The days of punishment have come;

The days of retribution are at hand;

Let Israel know this!

The prophet is [considered] a fool;

The man [of God] who is inspired is [treated as if] demented,

Because of the abundance of your wickedness and guilt,

And because your deep antagonism [toward God and the prophets] is so great.

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness [an unexpected and refreshing delight];

I saw your fathers (ancestors) as the first ripe fruit on the fig tree in its first season,

But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to shamefulness [the worship of Baal],

And [because of their spiritual and physical adultery] they became as detestable and loathsome as the thing they loved.

Israel is a luxuriant and prolific vine;

He produces fruit for himself.

The more his fruit,

The more altars he made [to Baal];

The richer his land,

The better he made the [idolatrous] pillars.

The golden calf itself will be carried to Assyria

As tribute to King Jareb;

Ephraim will be seized with shame

And Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel [to worship the calf and separate Israel from Judah].

Also the high places of Aven (Beth-aven), the sin of Israel, will be destroyed;

The thorn and the thistle will grow on their [pagan] altars,

And [in despair] they will say to the mountains,

“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

In this way it will be done to you at [idolatrous] Bethel because of your great wickedness;

At daybreak the king of Israel will be completely cut off.

When Israel was a child [a young nation], I loved him,

And I called My son out of Egypt.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I surrender you, O Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I treat you like [fn]Zeboiim?

My heart recoils within Me;

All My compassions are kindled together [for My nation of Israel].

Ephraim surrounds Me with lies

And the house of Israel with deceit;

Judah is also unruly against God,

Even against the faithful Holy One.

Now Jacob (Israel) fled into the open country of Aram (Paddan-aram),

And [there] Israel (Jacob) worked and served for a wife,

And for a wife he kept sheep.

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling and terror.

He exalted himself [above the other tribes] in Israel;

But through [the worship of] Baal he became guilty and died [spiritually, and then came ruin, sealing Israel’s doom as a nation].

It is your destruction, O Israel,

Because you are against Me, [and have rebelled] against your help.

O Israel, return [in repentance] to the LORD your God,

For you have stumbled and fallen [visited by tragedy], because of your sin.

I shall be like the dew to Israel;

He will blossom like the lily,

And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.