Hosea 7

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¹When I would heal Israel, The wrongdoing of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they practice deception; The thief enters, A band of robbers attack outside, ✦ ²And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds surround them; They are before My face. ✦ ³With their wickedness they make the king happy, And the officials with their lies. ✦ ⁴They are all adulterers, Like an oven heated by the baker, Who stops stoking the fire From the time the dough is kneaded until it is leavened. ✦ ⁵On the day of our king, the officials became sick with the heat of wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers, ✦ ⁶For their hearts are like an oven As they approach their plotting; Their anger smolders all night, In the morning it burns like flaming fire. ✦ ⁷All of them are hot like an oven, And they consume their rulers; All their kings have fallen. None of them calls on Me. ✦ ⁸¶Ephraim is himself thrown about with the nations; Ephraim has become a round loaf not turned over. ✦ ⁹Strangers devour his strength, Yet he does not know it; Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, Yet he does not know it. ✦ ¹⁰Though the pride of Israel testifies against him, Yet they have not returned to the Lord their God, Nor have they sought Him, despite all this. ✦ ¹¹So Ephraim has become like a gullible dove, without sense; They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. ✦ ¹²When they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will discipline them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly. ✦ ¹³Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me! I would redeem them, but they have spoken lies against Me. ✦ ¹⁴And they do not cry to Me from their heart When they wail on their beds; For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn against Me. ✦ ¹⁵Although I trained and strengthened their arms, Yet they devise evil against Me. ✦ ¹⁶They turn, but not upward, They are like a loose bow; Their officials will fall by the sword Because of the insolence of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt. ✦

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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 2 Kgs 13 ·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.

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