American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood,So is my beloved among the sons.I {Hebrew: delighted and sat down &c.}sat down under his shadow with great delight,And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the {Hebrew: house of wine.}banqueting-house,And his banner over me was love.
Stay ye me with {Hebrew: cakes of raisins.}raisins, refresh me with apples;For I am sick from love.
{Or, Let his left hand be &c.}His left hand is under my head,And his right hand doth embrace me.
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,By the {Or, gazelles}roes, or by the hinds of the field,That ye stir not up, nor awake my love,Until {Or, it Or, she}he please.
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh,Leaping upon the mountains,Skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a {Or, gazelle}roe or a young hart:Behold, he standeth behind our wall;He looketh in at the windows;He glanceth through the lattice.
My beloved spake, and said unto me,Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past;The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;The time of the {Or, pruning of vines}singing of birds is come,And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;
The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs,And the vines are in blossom;They give forth their fragrance.Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock,In the covert of the steep place,Let me see thy countenance,Let me hear thy voice;For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
Take us the foxes, the little foxes,That spoil the vineyards;For our vineyards are in blossom.
My beloved is mine, and I am his:He feedeth his flock among the lilies.
{Or, When the day is cool}Until the day {Or, break Hebrew: breathe}be cool, and the shadows flee away,Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a {Or, gazelle}roe or a young hartUpon the {Or, mountains of separation}mountains of {Perhaps, the spice malobathron.}Bether.
{Hebrew: Saying.}They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, will he return unto her again? will not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; {Or, and thinkest thou to return &c?}yet return again to me, saith Jehovah.
Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights, and see; where hast thou not been lain with? By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; yet thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the {Or, companion}guide of my youth?
Will he retain his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou {Or, hast spoken thus, but hast done &c.}hast spoken and hast done evil things, and hast {Hebrew: been able.}had thy way.
Moreover Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
{Or, And I said, After she hath done all these things, she &c.}And I said after she had done all these things, {Or, Let her return unto me}She will return unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot.
And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Jehovah.
And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath showed herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah; I will not {Hebrew: cause my countenance to fall upon you.}look in anger upon you; for I am merciful, saith Jehovah, I will not keep anger for ever.
Only {Or, know}acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith Jehovah.
Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith Jehovah, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they {Or, visit}miss it; neither {Or, shall that be done any more}shall it be made any more.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
In those days the house of Judah shall walk {Or, to}with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers.
But I said, How {Or, shall I…nations?}I will put thee among the children, and give thee {Or, the goodliest heritage of the nations}a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, {Another reading is, Thou shalt…and shalt not &c.}Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me.
Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah.
A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping and the supplications of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God.
Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings.Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God.
Truly in vain is the help that is looked for from the hills, the {Or, noisy throng}tumult on the mountains: truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.
But the {Hebrew: shame. See chapter 11:13; Hosea 9:10}shameful thing hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.
Again the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;
and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto Jerusalem: {Or, Thine origin}Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was thy father, and thy mother was a Hittite.
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, for that thy person was abhorred, in the day that thou wast born.
And when I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live.
I {Hebrew: made thee a myriad.}caused thee to multiply as that which groweth in the field, and thou didst increase and wax great, and thou attainedst to {Hebrew: ornament of ornaments.}excellent ornament; thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare.
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord Jehovah, and thou becamest mine.
Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with {Or, porpoise-skin}sealskin, and I {Or, bound thee with attire of fine linen}girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk.
And I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
And I put a ring upon thy nose, and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.
Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper unto royal estate.
And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord Jehovah.
But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was.
And thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places decked with divers colors, and playedst the harlot upon them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
Thou didst also take thy {Or, beautiful vessels}fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee {Or, male images}images of men, and didst play the harlot with them;
and thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them, and didst set mine oil and mine incense before them.
My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them for a sweet savor; and thus it was, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter,
that thou hast slain my children, and delivered them up, in {Or, setting them apart Hebrew: making them pass over.}causing them to pass through the fire unto them?
And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast weltering in thy blood.
And it is come to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord Jehovah),
that thou hast built unto thee a vaulted place, and hast made thee a lofty place in every street.
Thou hast built thy lofty place at the head of every way, and hast made thy beauty an abomination, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredom.
Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy whoredom, to provoke me to anger.
Behold therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine {Or, allowance}ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, that are ashamed of thy lewd way.
Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet thou wast not satisfied.
Thou hast moreover multiplied thy whoredom unto the land of {Or, Canaan}traffic, unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord Jehovah, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an impudent harlot;
in that thou buildest thy vaulted place at the head of every way, and makest thy lofty place in every street, and hast not been as a harlot, {Or, that scoffeth at her hire}in that thou scornest hire.
A wife that committeth adultery! that taketh strangers instead of her husband!
They give gifts to all harlots; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and bribest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredoms.
And thou art different from other women in thy whoredoms, in that none followeth thee to play the harlot; and whereas thou givest hire, and no hire is given unto thee, therefore thou art different.
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah:
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thy {Hebrew: brass.}filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness uncovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers; and because of all the idols of thy abominations, and for the blood of thy children, that thou didst give unto them;
therefore behold, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them against thee on every side, and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring upon thee the blood of wrath and jealousy.
I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy vaulted place, and break down thy lofty places; and they shall strip thee of thy clothes, and take thy fair jewels; and they shall leave thee naked and bare.
They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt also give no hire any more.
So will I cause my wrath toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring thy way upon thy head, saith the Lord Jehovah: and {Or, hast thou not committed &c.?}thou shalt not commit this lewdness with all thine abominations.
Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
Thou art the daughter of thy mother, that loatheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
And thine elder sister is Samaria, that dwelleth at thy left hand, she and her daughters; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
Yet hast thou not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast more corrupt than they in all thy ways.
As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away {Or, when I saw it}as I saw good.
Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters by all thine abominations which thou hast done.
Thou also, bear thou thine own shame, in that thou hast given judgment for thy {Or, sister}sisters; through thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
And I will {Or, return to}turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them;
that thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be ashamed because of all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.
For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,
before thy wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, that do despite unto thee round about.
Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith Jehovah.
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also deal with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
Then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder sisters and thy younger; and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah;
that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah.
The word of Jehovah 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 the son of Joash, king of Israel.
When Jehovah spake at the first {Or, with}by Hosea, Jehovah said unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom; for the land doth commit great whoredom, departing from Jehovah.
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bare him a son.
And Jehovah said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will {Hebrew: visit.}avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
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 Jehovah said unto him, Call her name {That is, That hath not obtained mercy.}Lo-ruhamah; for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, that I should in any wise pardon them.
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by Jehovah their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
And Jehovah said, Call his name {That is, Not my people.}Lo-ammi; for ye are not my people, and I will not be {Hebrew: for you.}your God.
{[Chapter 2:1 in Hebrew]}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, {Or, instead of that which was said}in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and shall go up from the land; for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Jehovah thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will {Hebrew: be silent.}rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing.
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,By the roes, or by the hinds of the field,That ye stir not up, nor awake my love,Until {Or, it Or, she}he please.
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, {Hebrew: Why should ye stir up? or why &c.}That ye stir not up, nor awake my love,Until {Or, it Or, she}he please.
For thy servants take pleasure in her stones,And have pity upon her dust.
So the nations shall fear the name of Jehovah,And all the kings of the earth thy glory.
{Or, Let his left hand be &c.}His left hand is under my head,And his right hand doth embrace me.
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,By the {Or, gazelles}roes, or by the hinds of the field,That ye stir not up, nor awake my love,Until {Or, it Or, she}he please.
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh,Leaping upon the mountains,Skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a {Or, gazelle}roe or a young hart:Behold, he standeth behind our wall;He looketh in at the windows;He glanceth through the lattice.
My beloved spake, and said unto me,Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past;The rain is over and gone;