Lexicon :: Strong's H3478 - yiśrā'ēl

The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel.

Then the LORD said to him:

Name him Jezreel,[fn] for in a little while

I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel

on the house of Jehu

and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

Yet the number of the Israelites

will be like the sand of the sea,

which cannot be measured or counted.

And in the place where they were told:

You are not my people,

they will be called: Sons of the living God.

Then the LORD said to me, “Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.

Hear the word of the LORD, people of Israel,

for the LORD has a case

against the inhabitants of the land:

There is no truth, no faithful love,

and no knowledge of God in the land!

Israel, if you act promiscuously,

don’t let Judah become guilty!

Do not go to Gilgal

or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven,[fn]

and do not swear an oath: As the LORD lives!

Hear this, priests!

Pay attention, house of Israel!

Listen, royal house!

For the judgment applies to you

because you have been a snare at Mizpah

and a net spread out on Tabor.

I know Ephraim,

and Israel is not hidden from me.

For now, Ephraim,

you have acted promiscuously;

Israel is defiled.

Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.[fn]

Both Israel and Ephraim stumble

because of their iniquity;

even Judah will stumble with them.

Ephraim will become a desolation

on the day of punishment;

I announce what is certain

among the tribes of Israel.

I have seen something horrible in the house of Israel:

Ephraim’s promiscuity is there; Israel is defiled.

when I heal Israel,

the iniquity of Ephraim and the crimes of Samaria

will be exposed.

For they practice fraud;

a thief breaks in;

a raiding party pillages outside.

Israel’s arrogance testifies against them,[fn]

yet they do not return to the LORD their God,

and for all this, they do not seek him.

Israel cries out to me,

“My God, we know you! ”

For this thing is from Israel —

a craftsman made it, and it is not God.

The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!

Israel is swallowed up!

Now they are among the nations

like discarded pottery.

Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;

Judah has also multiplied fortified cities.

I will send fire on their cities,

and it will consume their citadels.

Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do,

for you have acted promiscuously, leaving your God.

You love the wages of a prostitute

on every grain-threshing floor.

The days of punishment have come;

the days of retribution have come.

Let Israel recognize it!

The prophet is a fool,

and the inspired man is insane,

because of the magnitude

of your iniquity and hostility.

I discovered Israel

like grapes in the wilderness.

I saw your ancestors

like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season.

But they went to Baal-peor,

consecrated themselves to Shame,[fn]

and became abhorrent,

like the thing they loved.

Israel is a lush[fn] vine;

it yields fruit for itself.

The more his fruit increased,

the more he increased the altars.

The better his land produced,

the better they made the sacred pillars.

The calf itself will be taken to Assyria

as an offering to the great king.[fn]

Ephraim will experience shame;

Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.

The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,

will be destroyed;

thorns and thistles will grow over their altars.

They will say to the mountains, “Cover us! ”

and to the hills, “Fall on us! ”

So it will be done to you, Bethel,

because of your extreme evil.

At dawn the king of Israel will be totally destroyed.

When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.

How can I give you up, Ephraim?

How can I surrender you, Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

I have had a change of heart;

my compassion is stirred!

Ephraim surrounds me with lies,

the house of Israel, with deceit.

Judah still wanders with God

and is faithful to the holy ones.[fn]

Jacob fled to the territory of Aram.

Israel worked to earn a wife;

he tended flocks for a wife.

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;

he was exalted in Israel.

But he incurred guilt through Baal and died.

I will destroy you, Israel;

you have no help but me.[fn]

Israel, return to the LORD your God,

for you have stumbled in your iniquity.

I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like the lily

and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.