When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give {it} in her hand, and send her out of his house. {some...: Heb. matter of nakedness} {divorcement: Heb. cutting off}

Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find {him}, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

For of old time I have broken thy yoke, {and} burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. {transgress: or, serve}

For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give {me} my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. {drink: Heb. drinks}

And the names of them {were} Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus {were} their names; Samaria {is} Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. {Aholah: that is, His tent, or, tabernacle} {Aholibah: that is, My tabernacle in her}

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, {departing} from the LORD.

Say unto them, {As} I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.

Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:

Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. {lightness: or, fame}

And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months. {four whole months: or, a year and four month: Heb. days, four months}

How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: {thou art} a swift dromedary traversing her ways; {thou art...: or, O swift dromedary}

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

Return, ye backsliding children, {and} I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou {art} the LORD our God.

Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. {a plentiful...: or, the land of Carmel}

Arise ye, and depart; for this {is} not {your} rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy {you}, even with a sore destruction.

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; {and} I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I {am} merciful, saith the LORD, {and} I will not keep {anger} for ever.

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that {is} abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee {for} an inheritance.

And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except {it be} for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

Plead with your mother, plead: for she {is} not my wife, neither {am} I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to {her} husband: and let not the husband put away {his} wife.

Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put {her} away.

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go {to be} among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. {sleep: Heb. lie down}

Thus saith the LORD, Where {is} the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors {is it} to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. {a plentiful...: or, the land of Carmel}

Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; {and} I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I {am} merciful, saith the LORD, {and} I will not keep {anger} for ever.

For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give {me} my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. {drink: Heb. drinks}

Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of {her} friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. {of wine: Heb. of grapes}

And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this {is} a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. {talent: or, weighty piece}

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

Surely {as} a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. {husband: Heb. friend}

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

For {according to} the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and {according to} the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to {that} shameful thing, {even} altars to burn incense unto Baal. {shameful...: Heb. shame}

What hath my beloved to do in mine house, {seeing} she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest. {What...: Heb. What is to my beloved in my house} {when...: or, when thy evil is}

I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, {and} thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when {shall it} once {be}? {when...: Heb. after when yet?}

Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.

And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears {are} on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort {her}: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.

But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.

And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;

Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she {is} with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, {departing} from the LORD.

Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, {and} to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. {friendly...: Heb. to her heart}

And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. {wander: or, feed}

For of old time I have broken thy yoke, {and} burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. {transgress: or, serve}

Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.

My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused {them} to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

{But as} a wife that committeth adultery, {which} taketh strangers instead of her husband!

For my thoughts {are} not your thoughts, neither {are} your ways my ways, saith the LORD.