Hosea

NET Bible

Hosea has 14 chapters. Read Hosea in the NET Bible, 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.

Read the Hosea summary and outline →

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 and Gomer stand solemnly with their three children between a sunlit valley and a city beneath gathering storm

Hosea 1

Hosea 1: the prophet's marriage and children's names announce judgment on Israel while pointing toward future mercy and reunion.

A woman stands where a thorn-blocked barren path opens into a luminous vineyard with grain, oil, water, and peaceful animals

Hosea 2

Hosea 2: false worship brings discipline, but God promises tender renewal, covenant peace, mercy, and restored belonging.

Hosea respectfully welcomes his estranged wife at a marketplace beside measured silver and sacks of barley

Hosea 3

Hosea 3: Hosea's costly restoration of his wife mirrors God's enduring love and Israel's eventual return after deprivation.

A torn covenant scroll and broken balance scales lie beside an abandoned altar as crowds climb toward burning hilltop shrines

Hosea 4

Hosea 4: Israel's lack of truth and knowledge, corrupt priesthood, and idolatry bring moral disorder and judgment.

Priests, rulers, and people stand trapped behind a hunter's net as a lion's shadow looms over the road ahead

Hosea 5

Hosea 5: corrupt leaders ensnare Israel, pride blocks repentance, and reliance on Assyria cannot heal divine judgment.

Travelers support a wounded man along a rain-wet road toward dawn while an unused altar stands beneath fading mist

Hosea 6

Hosea 6: a call to return meets God's charge that fleeting loyalty cannot replace steadfast love and true knowledge.

A half-burned, half-raw flatbread lies beside a glowing oven as courtiers whisper around a weary king and a dove crosses divided roads

Hosea 7

Hosea 7: corruption, palace intrigue, and unstable foreign alliances consume Israel, which still refuses genuine return.

A vast whirlwind scatters grain beneath a circling eagle as people gather around the cracked golden calf shrine of Samaria

Hosea 8

Hosea 8: covenant rejection, the calf of Samaria, and foreign dependence lead Israel to sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.

Israelite families depart along an exile road past a withered vineyard and an abandoned cluster of ripe grapes

Hosea 9

Hosea 9: corrupted worship turns harvest celebration into barrenness, exile, wandering, and the loss of sacred festivals.

People carry a golden calf away from rain-soaked, vine-covered altars while farmers plow fresh straight furrows toward dawn

Hosea 10

Hosea 10: Israel's false prosperity and calf worship collapse as the prophet calls the people to sow righteousness and seek God.

An Israelite father gently teaches a child to walk beside a river settlement as older families follow a road toward the hills

Hosea 11

Hosea 11: God's parental love remembers Israel's childhood, grieves its rebellion, restrains destruction, and promises return.

A merchant grips weighted scales while Jacob wrestles a shrouded messenger at dawn and a traveler walks toward distant tents

Hosea 12

Hosea 12: Jacob's struggle and return expose Israel's deceit, dishonest wealth, and need for steadfast love and justice.

A fierce east wind scatters chaff and mist across a dry spring, broken royal emblems, and a shattered golden calf idol

Hosea 13

Hosea 13: forgotten deliverance and calf worship leave Ephraim like mist and chaff before an inescapable east wind.

Families leave broken idols beside the road and enter a dew-bright landscape filled with lilies, olive trees, grain, and fruitful vines

Hosea 14

Hosea 14: sincere return meets freely given love, healing, renewed fruitfulness, and a final call to walk wisely in God's ways.