Hosea 11

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¹“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. ✦ ²But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols. ✦ ³I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him. ✦ ⁴I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him. ✦ ⁵“But since my people refuse to return to me, they will return to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria. ✦ ⁶War will swirl through their cities; their enemies will crash through their gates. They will destroy them, trapping them in their own evil plans. ✦ ⁷For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me. ✦ ⁸“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. ✦ ⁹No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy. ✦ ¹⁰For someday the people will follow me. I, the Lord, will roar like a lion. And when I roar, my people will return trembling from the west. ✦ ¹¹Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt. Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria. And I will bring them home again,” says the Lord. ✦ ¹²Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit, but Judah still obeys God and is faithful to the Holy One. ✦

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Where this chapter connects

Hos 7 ·6 Jer 31 ·5 Ezek 20 ·4 Deut 32 ·4 Ps 78 ·4 Hos 2 ·4 Hos 12 ·4 2 Kgs 17 ·3

Christ at the center

God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.

How Hosea 11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 11YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Hosea 11David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Hosea 11Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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