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📖 Hosea introduction

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1“Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread on Tabor. 2The rebels are deep in slaughter; but I discipline all of them. 3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute. Israel is defiled. 4Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know Yahweh. 5The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity. Judah also will stumble with them. 6They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Yahweh; but they won’t find him. He has withdrawn himself from them. 7They are unfaithful to Yahweh; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields. 8“Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin! 9Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will surely be. 10The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out my wrath on them like water. 11Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols. 12Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness. 13“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound. 14For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver. 15I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

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 5 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 5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — Hosea 5David 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 5Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.