Hosea 1:1 The word of God that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam II the son of Joash, king of Israel.

Hosea 1:2,3 The beginning of the word of God by Hosea. And the God said to Hosea, Go, take unto you a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, for the land has committed great whoredom, departing from me.(Clarkes Commentary:."...this denotes the infidelity of the kingdom of Israel and God's divorce of them"; Jeremiah 19:1). So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, which conceived and bare him a son.

Hosea 1:4 And Godsaid unto him, Call his name Jezreel.(see a Bible Dictionary, free with the Online Bible that you can use offline on your own computer); for yet a little while and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

Newcome comments:."will cause to cease the kingdom".either relates to the cutting off of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians or to the ceasing of the kingdom of Israel from the house of Jehu, (2Kings 10:30) and which was fulfilled:.2Kings 15:10.

Hosea 1:5-9 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah, for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah and will save them by the Lord their God and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.(when this did happen?). Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Loammi, for you are not my people and I will not be your God.

Hosea 1:10,11 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, You are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

From.Clarke's Commentary:."...God had promised that the children of Israel should be as the sand of the sea. {Genesis 32:12; Romams 9:25,26}. And though for their iniquities he had thinned and scattered them, yet the spirit and design of his promise and covenant shall be fulfilled. An Israel there shall be. In the place of the reprobated people, who were now no longer his people, there shall be found an Israel that shall be the children of the living God. See the above scriptures and {see 1Peter 2:10}. This must mean either the Israelites after their conversion to Christianity, or even the Gentiles themselves converted to God and now become the true Israel."

Hosea 2:1 Say you unto your brethren, Ammi.(means 'people', 'nation').and to your sisters, Ruhamah.(means 'mercy', 'love', 'compassion').

Hosea 2:2.Plead with your mother.(what does the word 'mother' mean here? see.Hosea 4:5), 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.

Hosea 2:3-11 Lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day that she was born and make her as a wilderness and set her like a dry land and slay her with thirst...And I will not have mercy upon her children, for they be the children of whoredoms...For their mother has played the harlot. She that conceived them has done shamefully, for she said, I will go after.(original for 'go after' is 'remain behind', 'allow myself to be led by', implication being, to go along with, to fall in line with).my lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink...Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.(just won't work out, such as what has happened today with the cabal)...And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them and she shall seek them, but shall not find them.(because they have been defeated and taken away and so were unable to provide support to those keeping their scam going). Then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better with me than now...For she did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil and multiplied her silver and gold.(Joshua 24:20 "If you forsake the Lord and serve strange Gods, then he will turn and do you hurt and consume you, after that he has done you good."), which they prepared for Baal...Therefore will I.(God here is saying what He will do).return and take away my corn in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness...And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers and none shall deliver her out of mine hand...I will also cause all her mirth to cease.(gets no joy out of life), her feast days, her new moons and her sabbaths and all her solemn feasts.

Hosea 2:12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she has said, These are my rewards.(Hosea 9:1).that my lovers have given me and I will make them a forest and the beasts of the field shall eat them.(I will do great things with the gains I've made from my illicit life).

Hosea 2:13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels and she went after her lovers and forgot me.(Jeremiah 44:17), says the Lord.

It's an insult to God from a people that can't seem to see why such evils are coming upon them (*). Like those earlier, their heart too, just couldn't seem to get close to the real God, because of their selfishness:.Deuteronomy 5:29.

Hosea 2:14-16 Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her...And I will give her vineyards from thence and the valley of Achor.(a valley north of Jericho:.Judges 1:16).for a door of hope and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.(bondage in Egypt)...And it shall be at that day, says the Lord, that you shall call me Ishi.(a man with a good heart).and shall call me no more Baali.(a harsh lord).

After the heartaches.(verses 2-13 above).people bring upon themselves because they left God and got into evil, God comforts them:.Hosea 2:14-16: Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:6; Hosea 11:3,9; Zechariah 9:16,17; Lamentations 3:22,23; 1Thessalonians 5:14. God just wants people to change in their minds (and have a good heart), no matter how evil they may have been, to where life goes better for them now and forever:.John 3:17; Hosea 5:4; 6:1; 1Corinthians 2:9.

Hosea 2:17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

Hosea 2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the Earth and will make them to lie down safely.

Isaiah 11:6-9.

Hosea 2:19-22 And I will betroth you unto me forever; yea, I will betroth you unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in lovingkindness and in mercies. I will even betroth you unto me in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, says the Lord, I will hear the heaven and they shall hear the Earth.(speaking of harmony). And the Earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil and they shall hear Jezreel.

Hosea 2:23 And I will sow her unto me in the Earth and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy and I will say to them which were not my people, You are my people and they shall say, You are my God.

Romans 9:25.

Hosea 3:1 Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend.(the former mate who still had feelings toward her: Hosea 1:1-3), 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.

from.Clarke's Commentary:."God gave them up to their enemies and caused them to be carried into captivity. The woman mentioned here represents one who was a lawful wife joining herself to a paramour; then divorced by her husband; afterwards repenting and desirous to be joined to her spouse; ceasing from her adulterous commerce, but not yet reconciled to him. This was the state and disposition of those under the Babylonish captivity. Though separated from their own idols, they continued separated from their God. He is still represented as having affectionate feelings towards them and awaiting their full repentance and contrition, in order to renew the marriage covenant. These things are pointed out by the symbolical actions of the prophet."

Hosea 3:2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver and for an homer.(about 10 bushels; about 100 gallons of Imperial measure).of barley and an half homer of barley.

Hosea 3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without a prince and without a sacrifice and without an image and without an ephod, and without teraphim.

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel.(who's Israel today?), for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Hosea 4:2 By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break out and blood touches blood.

Hosea 4:3 Therefore shall the land mourn and every one that dwells therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

Hosea 4:4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another, for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.

Hosea 4:5 Therefore shall you fall in the day and the prophet also shall fall with you in the night and I will destroy your mother.

Comprised with.Barnes Notes: individuals are spoken of as the children and the whole nation as the mother. They were to be cut off, root and branch. They were to lose their collective existence as a nation and, lest private persons should flatter themselves with hope of escape, it is said to them, as if one by one, 'you shall fall'. Comprised with.Adam Clarke's Commentary: the word 'mother' refers to the metropolis or mother city, meaning here for this people, it was Jerusalem or Samaria.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed.(original also has 'cut off', that is, cut off from the good frequencies of the one and only true God, such as one experiences in meditation, the good frequencies which continue each time in meditation to immerse you).for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge.(how.does one reject knowledge?), I will also reject you, that.you won't be a priest.(Revelation 5:10).to me, seeing you have forgotten.(original 'ceased to care about':.Jeremiah 44:16,17).the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

Psalms 119:104 "Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way."
Proverbs 4:5-7 "Get wisdom, get understanding, forget it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not and she shall preserve you. Love her and she shall keep you. Wisdom is]the principal thing, therefore get wisdom and with all your getting get comprehension."
Proverbs 16:16 "How much better is it to get wisdom than gold and to get comprehension is rather to be chosen than silver!"

Hosea 4:7 As they were increased.(the more they got, the more they sinned; feeling confident because of what came to them, they felt they were ok:.Proverbs 14:12), so they sinned against me. Therefore will I change their glory into shame.
Proverbs 14:7,8.

Hosea 4:8,9 They eat up the sin of my people and they set their heart on their iniquity.(no heart in them to move from their low consciousness living:.Deuteronomy 5:29). And there shall be, like people, like priest and I will punish.(original also 'attend to', 'take note', 'number', 'count', idea being that it's noticed and a multiversal law against it enacts automatically; what law?; in the Old Testament God took a direct hand in it, otherwise they would not have known what was happening when things went wrong for them; in the New Testament era, God does not take a direct hand and lets the automatic laws He set up take care of it and that's because overall the consciousness of man has edged toward higher consciousness, shown by the lack of all the stupid pagan practices those in Old Testament times were conned into by those who were influenced by the dark side).them for their ways and reward them their doings. 

Hosea 4:10 For they shall eat and not have enough. They shall commit whoredom and shall not increase, because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. 

Hosea 4:11 Whoredom and wine and new wine.(getting to the alcohol as soon as it's made).take away the heart.(they are consumed with their main purpose of getting drunk, so much so they can't think of other things).

Isaiah 28:1,7,8; Amos 4:1.

Hosea 4:12 My people ask counsel at their stocks.(wooden idols:.Jeremiah 2:27; Habakkuk 2:19).and their staff declares unto them.(they believe they have gotten an answer), for the spirit of whoredoms has caused them to err and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

Like a child who right from under the care of its parents, it begins to do things that are unloving and not respectful to its parents. How to fixt that?

Hosea 4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms. Because the shadow thereof is good, therefore your daughters commit whoredom and your spouses commit adultery. 

Hosea 4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery, for themselves are separated with whores and they sacrifice with harlots, therefore the people that does not understand shall fall.

Because they were away from God, they blindingly figured all they were doing was ok:.Psalms 36:1-4.

Comprised with.Barnes Notes: What does his mean, He will not punish our daughters when they commit whoredom, etc.? Rather than use the correction a loving Father may do in this present life, God instead, will leave such persons to the evils they wish to revel in,.verse 17 below. These are those who delight in the unrighteousness that sears their conscience:.1Timothy 4:1,2; Titus 1:15.

God corrects those who haven't as yet fallen so far into evils, they at least have some heart for decency:.Hebrews 12:5-9. To be chastened for lesser evils, is a token of the love God has toward us. God is at least active then in one's life. To be left alone to carry on evil ways, further seals off the connection between one's soul to the Soul of God.

What does God say of them?.Jude 1:19.

These evil ones with their acts were spread over Phoenicia, Syria, Phrygia (the West part of Asia Minor, where Paul visited:.Acts 18:23), Assyria and Babylonia. Ashtaroth (the Greek Astarte) was the chief object of these ancients idolatry.

Hosea 4:15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend and come not you unto Gilgal, neither go you up to Bethaven, nor swear, The Lord lives.

Hosea 4:17.Ephraim.(another name for the physical descendants of Abraham.{and now all descendants whether of Abraham or not:.Galatians 3:7, us}).is joined to idols.(Jeremiah 44:16,17)..Leave him alone.(why?.Romans 1:28).

It isn't saying to avoid trying to awaken others to the truth of things, but to know when doing that is like 'flogging a dead horse'. What to do in trying to awaken others; pray and ask them some questions:.Joel 2:13,14.

Hosea 5:4 They will not frame their doings.(Jeremiah 44:16,17).to turn unto their God, for the spirit of whoredoms.(original for 'whoredoms' is 'breath' meaning their life or their attitude is completely selfish and why {Isaiah 1:6; Ephesians 6:16} this flourished in their lives).is in the midst of them.(they prefer allowing evil thoughts to abide in them).and they have not known the Lord.

Such are they that are completely out of touch with anything spiritual:.2Thessalonians 2:12.

Hosea 5:5 And the pride of Israel does testify to his face.(they are proud in the ways that they think are good for them:.Proverbs 14:12).

Hosea 5:6 They shall go with their flocks.(animals {chickens, etc.}).and with their herds.(cattle).to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him. He has withdrawn.(Jeremiah 17:5; Ezekiel 39:28).himself from them.

As the original has it:."They go with their flocks and herds seeking God.(to appease a God they have the wrong idea about).to find favor with Him to deliver.(to deliver themselves from what is wrong in their lives, like 'what is it that I'm doing that causes all my problems?')."

Hosea 5:7 They have dealt treacherously against the Lord, for they have begotten strange children. Now shall a month devour them with their portions.

Hosea 5:7 They have dealt treacherously.(original 'acted deceitfully').against the Lord.(Jeremiah 3:20), for they have begotten strange children.(comprised with.Barnes Notes:.Genesis 18:19 "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment...".these in this verse 7 here who were 'dealing treacherously', were idolaters and estranged from God and of course, had children like them, the next generation growing up more estranged from God than themselves; such as what happens today with the children of dumb ass parents). Now shall a month devour them with their portions.(the reap and sow law of the universe acts quickly in this case).

Hosea 5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me early.(or, quickly; and they did, but it was time and time again this went on).

Hosea 6:1 Come and let us return unto the Lord. For he has torn.(original, 'tear into pieces'; a colloquialism).and he will heal us. He has smitten.(God doesn't smite.us {*}; He has set up multiversal laws that work on humanity according to humanity's thinking and out of which thinking comes our actions; one law is).and he will bind us up.

Hosea 6:4 O Ephraim.(another name for the descendants of Abraham,.us:.Galatians 3:7), what shall I do unto you? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud and as the early dew it goes away.(they were like us today, both good and bad).

Hosea 6:5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets. I have slain them by the words of my mouth and thy judgments are as the light that goes forth.

Hosea 6:6 For I.(God speaking here).desired mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Matthew 9:13 "But go and learn what this means, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Matthew 12:7 "But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless."

The word 'God' is a plural word, so means the knowledge of the Godly realm and what's that? But some weren't interested:.Jeremiah 7:23-28.

Hosea 6:7-10 But they like men have transgressed the covenant by dealing treacherously against me. Gilead.(1Samuel 11:1).is a city of them that work iniquity and is polluted with blood. And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent, for they commit lewdness. I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel. There is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

Hosea 6:11 Also, O Judah, he has set an harvest for you, when I returned the captivity of my people.

When Judah came out of captivity, it again started to be as it was that put them into captivity in the first place.

Hosea 7:1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered and the wickedness of Samaria. For they commit falsehood and the thief comes in and the troop of robbers spoils without.

They have thieves in the city and robbers in the country.

Hosea 7:2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own doings have beset them about.(talking about the automatic law of reaping and sowing); they are before my face,

God always knows what's going on:.Matthew 10:29.

Hosea 7:3 They make the king glad with their wickedness and the princes with their lies.

They are all corrupt:.Jeremiah 6:13.

Hosea 7:4-6 They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, which ceases from raising after he has kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.(Barnes Notes:."The world is full of such people now, ever on fire and pausing only from sin until the flatteries, whereby they seduce the unstable, have worked and penetrated the whole mind and victim after victim is gradually leavened and prepared for sin.".People con one another hoping to gain some advavtage). In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine. He stretched out his hand with scorners. For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night and in the morning it burns as a flaming fire. 

Hosea 7:7 They are all hot as an oven and have devoured their judges. All their kings are fallen. There is none among them that calls unto me.

Isaiah 47:7-11.

Hosea 7:8,9.Ephraim has mixed himself among the people. Ephraim is a cake not turned. Strangers have devoured his strength and he knows it not. Yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knows it not.

Hosea 7:10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this.

Hosea 7:11 Ephraim.(who is Ephraim today?).also is like a silly dove without heart. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria.

If help is needed run it by God first. How?

Hosea 7:12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them. I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven. I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard.

Hosea 7:13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me.(leaving God out of one's life assures continual low consciousness living). Destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me.(this is Old Testament advice to turn people in the direction back then that was known to be toward their best interests; it's a different story when in Christ; what does 'in Christ' mean?). Though I have redeemed them yet they have spoken lies against me.

They became that corrupt, but does society speak lies against God today?

Hosea 7:14-16 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds.(when things were going bad for them). When they assemble themselves for corn and wine they leave off any thought of me. Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief as if they were against me.(caring not at all for my higher ways for them). They return.(they come and go in their life, but leave me out of it all), but not to the most High. They are like a deceitful bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

The message all through the Bible is for people to return to God (Jeremiah 4:1-4), so things go better for them:.Deuteronomy 5:29.

Hosea 8:1 Set the trumpet to your mouth.(God tells the prophet Hosea to tell them the message He has for them:.Isaiah 58:1). He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant and trespassed against my law.

Hosea 8:2 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know you.

And today, who is Israel?

Hosea 8:3 Israel.(who is Israel today?).has cast off the thing that is good. The enemy.(what enemy?).shall pursue him.

Problems come when one leaves that which was good, so we learn.

Hosea 8:4-6 They have set up kings.(why?), but not by me.(I didn't want this). They have made princes and I knew it not.(this wasn't in my mind, says God). Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.(their actions rejected God:.1Samuel 8:7). Thy calf, O Samaria, has cast thee off. Mine anger is kindled against them. How long will it be ere they attain to innocency?.(how long before they get away from their evil state?).For from Israel was it also. The workman made it.(they made their idols with their own hands; how stupid can that be); therefore it is not God, but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.(their physical idols shall become as dust on the ground).

Hosea 8:7 For they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind. It has no stalk. The bud yields no meal. If so be it yield, strangers swallow it up.

The futility of a life without God in it.

Hosea 8:9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself. Ephraim has hired lovers.

Hosea 8:11 Because Ephraim has made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.

Egypt being a place of captivity God brought them out of.

Sin, begets sin:.Psalms 106:36; 1Timothy 6:9.

Hosea 8:13 They sacrifice flesh instead of the sacrifices of mine offerings and eat them, but the Lord accepts them not. Now will he remember their iniquity and visit their sins and they shall return to Egypt.

Adam Clarke's Commentary:."many of them did return to Egypt after the conquest of Palestine by Shalmaneser and many after the ruin of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar-II; but they had in effect returned to Egypt by setting up the worship of the golden calves, which were in imitation of the Egyptian God.Apis"..Tme and time again God delivered them and time and time again they headed.back into captivity.

Hosea 8:14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and builds temples.(for the Gods they made {2Kings 17:16-19,29,30} with their own hands to worship).and Judah has multiplied fenced cities.(didn't trust God to protect them), but I will send a fire upon his cities and it shall devour the palaces thereof.

Hosea 9:1 Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people, for you have gone a whoring from your God. You have loved a reward upon every cornfloor.

JFB Commentary:.you have desired, in reward for your homage to idols, abundance of corn on every threshing floor:.Hosea 2:12.

They had become a selfish, me first, people with their attitude of how much can I make out of something?

Hosea 9:2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them and the new wine shall fail in her.

Comprised with.Barnes Notes:."And the new wine shall fail in her".or, literally."shall fail her", "shall lie to her". It may be said that, as the nation of Israel back then lied to God (Hosea 7:13), so in requital, the fruits of the Earth would be disappointing and hold out hopes which will never come to pass. Is it the same today? How's your life doing?.Haggai 1:6.

Hosea 9:6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them. The pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them. Thorns shall be in their tabernacles.

Hosea 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time, but they went to Baalpeor and separated themselves unto that shame and their abominations were according as they loved.

Jeremiah 44:16,17.

Hosea 9:12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there be not a man left. Yea, woe also to them when I depart from them.(*)!

That's what we have today, because long ago humanity didn't want anything to do with God (Jeremiah 44:16,17) and this has just gotten more so today, by satanically influenced controllers who always set up anti God policies to affect society negatively. How do you like society today?

Hosea 10:1.Israel is an empty vine, he brings forth fruit unto himself. According to the multitude of his fruit he has increased the altars. According to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven.(word means 'house of vanity' - doing their own thing which here is worthless). For the people and their priests thereof shall mourn over it, because the glory is departed from it.

Comprised with.Barnes Notes: The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of (i.e..'for') the calves of Beth-aven. Hosea calls them in the original 'cow-calves' perhaps to denote their weakness and helplessness, meaning, far from their idol able to help them. The people being not too bright of mind were anxious and troubled for their idols as they actually believed these stupid things made with one's own hands had power over their lives and didn't want to lose them, so bewitched were they to venerate them:.Isaiah 52:3.

Today, people's homes, vehicles and prestige are things their heart is on because they have been duped into believing such things make them greater in the eyes of others, who really don't care about them at all. Such are the vanities of life. But the Creator who cared for them and us now, was not in their heart. The people back then were afraid that their stupid hand made idols would be taken from them. Obviously such idiotic things have no power at all.

Hosea 10:8 The high places also of Aven.(comprised with.Concise Bible Dictionary:.Aven or Heliopolis, means 'House of the Sun' in northern Egypt, which was a seat of idolatry and is used symbolically in that Beth-el, meaning 'the house of God' had become Aven or 'Beth-aven', that is, 'the house of vanity', because of idolatry), the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us and to the hills, Fall on us.

Hosea 10:12 Sow righteousness and you'll reap mercy. Break up your fallow ground. It is time to seek God.(*), for his righteousness to rain upon you.

Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.

Exodus 19:4.

Hosea 11:2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim and burned incense to graven images.

Better worded 'I called them but they went the wrong way. They went after Baalim and worshipped graven images'.Images made by man were worshipped as real by these who chose the pathway of selfishness.

Hosea 11:3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms, but they knew not that I healed them.

Hosea 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in the midst of you and I will not enter into the city.

Comprised with.Clarke's Commentary: The holy place is in Ephraimand God is in this holy place and he will not go into the cities as he did into Sodom and Gomorrah, to destroy them. Judgment is his strange work and God has many ways to bring people to him. JFB Commentary: The verse is saying that God won't be like ordinary people such as live in cities who take cruel vengeance. Instead, I save those whom I correct.

Hosea 12:1 Ephraim feeds on wind.(no direction when one has false hopes).and follows after the east wind. He daily increases lies and desolation and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians and oil is carried into Egypt.

Barnes Notes: Israel 'fed on wind' when he sought by gifts to win one who could aid him no more than the wind. Look to God, not for favors from others.

Hosea 12:2 The Lord has also a controversy with Judah.(meaning the descendents of that individual).and will punish.(original also means 'reckon with'; how?).Jacob.(meaning the descendents of that individual).according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.

Hosea 12:3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb.(Genesis 25:26).and by his strength he had power with God. 

Hosea 12:4 Yea, he had power over the angel.(Genesis 32:24-30).and prevailed. He wept and made supplication unto him. He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us.

Hosea 12:5 Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial.(or 'remembrance').

Hosea 12:6 Therefore turn to God, keep mercy and judgment and wait on your God continually.

Hosea 12:7 He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand. He loves to oppress.

Hosea 12:8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found substance for myself. In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.

Hosea 12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets and I have multiplied visions and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.

Hosea 12:12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria and Israel.(Jacob's name was changed to Israel; Hosea here just reiterates this).served for a wife.(original is simply 'a woman').and for a wife he kept sheep.

The story.

Hosea 12:13 And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and by a prophet was he preserved.

Hosea 13:4 Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt and thou shalt know no God but me; for there is no saviour beside me.

Hosea 13:9,10 O Israel, you have destroyed yourself, but in me is your help. I will be your king. Where is any other that may save you in all your cities? and your judges of whom you said, Give me a king and princes?

They didn't want God in their lives (Jeremiah 44:16,17), so God got out. Instead, they wanted a king, someone they could daily look at and see his interactions with people. What they saw they appreciated, but the invisible (Colossians 1:15), meant nothing to them:.John 20:29.

Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave.(Hebrews 2:14). I will redeem them from death.(1Corinthians 15:54,55). O death, I will be your plagues. O grave, I will be your destruction. Repentance.(repentance means change and the Creator won't change {Malachi 3:6}, won't alter the way it's set up regarding humans surviving death).shall be hid from mine eyes..

The Creator is concerned with the things of the soul.

Hosea 14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for mine anger is turned away from him.

....next Old Testament book is Joel