Hosea 1-4

1This is the word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel.

2When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”

3So Hosea went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

4Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

5And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

6Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.

7Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.”

8After she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son.

9And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.

10Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’

11Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land. For great will be the day of Jezreel.

1“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’

2Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.

3Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst.

4I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.

5For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’

6Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.

7She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband, for then I was better off than now.’

8For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold— which they crafted for Baal.

9Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.

10And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.

11I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her appointed feasts.

12I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers. So I will make them into a thicket, and the beasts of the field will devour them.

13I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she adorned herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.

14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.

15There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

16In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’

17For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.

18On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and battle in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.

19So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.

20And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”

21“On that day I will respond—” declares the LORD— “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth.

22And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

23And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

1Then the LORD said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.”

2So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.

3Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.”

4For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.

5Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.

1Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!

2Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.

3Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.

4But let no man contend; let no man offer reproof; for your people are like those who contend with a priest.

5You will stumble by day, and the prophet will stumble with you by night; so I will destroy your mother—

6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

7The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; they exchanged their Glory for a thing of disgrace.

8They feed on the sins of My people and set their hearts on iniquity.

9And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

10They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have abandoned the LORD to give themselves

11to promiscuity, wine, and new wine, which take away understanding.

12My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.

13They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

14I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin.

15Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’

16For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?

17Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!

18When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.

19The whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.