Hosea 7

Read the chapter

¹When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the gang of robbers ravages outside. ✦ ²They don’t consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have engulfed them. They are before my face. ✦ ³They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. ✦ ⁴They are all adulterers. They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring, from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened. ✦ ⁵On the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine. He joined his hand with mockers. ✦ ⁶For they have prepared their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night. In the morning it burns as a flaming fire. ✦ ⁷They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one among them who calls to me. ✦ ⁸Ephraim, he mixes himself among the nations. Ephraim is a pancake not turned over. ✦ ⁹Strangers have devoured his strength, and he doesn’t realize it. Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him, and he doesn’t realize it. ✦ ¹⁰The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they haven’t returned to Yahweh their God, nor sought him, for all this. ✦ ¹¹“Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria. ✦ ¹²When they go, I will spread my net on them. I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard. ✦ ¹³Woe to them! For they have wandered from me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me. ✦ ¹⁴They haven’t cried to me with their heart, but they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from me. ✦ ¹⁵Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet they plot evil against me. ✦ ¹⁶They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt. ✦

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

Where this chapter connects

Hos 7 ·11 Hos 8 ·8 Hos 9 ·7 Hos 5 ·7 2 Kgs 15 ·6 Hos 4 ·6 Hos 11 ·5 Hos 6 ·4

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 7 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 7YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Hosea 7David 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 7Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

← Hosea 6 Hosea 8 →