Hosea
Hosea has 14 chapters. Read Hosea in the Douay-Rheims 1899, chapter by chapter, free and without an account.
Hosea confronts Israel’s unfaithfulness through the prophet’s family story and a series of oracles. Marriage and parental imagery portray a people who turn from God toward idols and foreign powers. Accusations and warnings of judgment alternate with promises of compassion and restoration. The book closes by calling Israel to return and inviting readers to discern the ways of the LORD.
In Christian Bibles, Hosea is one of the twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. In the Jewish Tanakh it belongs to the Nevi’im, the Prophets, as part of the Twelve. See it on the shelf.
Hosea 1: the prophet's marriage and children's names announce judgment on Israel while pointing toward future mercy and reunion.
Hosea 2: false worship brings discipline, but God promises tender renewal, covenant peace, mercy, and restored belonging.
Hosea 3: Hosea's costly restoration of his wife mirrors God's enduring love and Israel's eventual return after deprivation.
Hosea 4: Israel's lack of truth and knowledge, corrupt priesthood, and idolatry bring moral disorder and judgment.
Hosea 5: corrupt leaders ensnare Israel, pride blocks repentance, and reliance on Assyria cannot heal divine judgment.
Hosea 6: a call to return meets God's charge that fleeting loyalty cannot replace steadfast love and true knowledge.
Hosea 7: corruption, palace intrigue, and unstable foreign alliances consume Israel, which still refuses genuine return.
Hosea 8: covenant rejection, the calf of Samaria, and foreign dependence lead Israel to sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.
Hosea 9: corrupted worship turns harvest celebration into barrenness, exile, wandering, and the loss of sacred festivals.
Hosea 10: Israel's false prosperity and calf worship collapse as the prophet calls the people to sow righteousness and seek God.
Hosea 11: God's parental love remembers Israel's childhood, grieves its rebellion, restrains destruction, and promises return.
Hosea 12: Jacob's struggle and return expose Israel's deceit, dishonest wealth, and need for steadfast love and justice.
Hosea 13: forgotten deliverance and calf worship leave Ephraim like mist and chaff before an inescapable east wind.
Hosea 14: sincere return meets freely given love, healing, renewed fruitfulness, and a final call to walk wisely in God's ways.