Hosea’s Wife and Children
1 The word of the Lord which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife [a]inclined to infidelity, and children of infidelity; for the land commits flagrant infidelity, [b]abandoning the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for in just a little while I will [c]punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And [d]the Lord said to him, “Name her [e]Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer take pity on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. 7 But I will take pity on the house of Judah and save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.” 8 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 And [f]the Lord said, “Name him [g]Lo-ammi, because you are not My people, and I am not [h]your God.”
10 [i]Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or counted;
And in the place Where it is said to them, “You are not My people,” It will be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God.”
11 And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, And they will appoint for themselves one leader, And they will go up from the land, For the day of Jezreel will be great.
Footnotes
Hosea 1:2 Lit of infidelity; or fornication
Hosea 1:2 Lit away from
Hosea 1:4 Lit visit the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu
Hosea 1:6 Lit He
Hosea 1:6 I.e., not having obtained mercy
Hosea 1:9 Lit He
Hosea 1:9 I.e., not my people
Hosea 1:9 Lit yours
Hosea 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Heb
Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned
2 [a]Say to your brothers, “[b]Ammi,” and to your sisters, “[c]Ruhamah.”
2 “Dispute with your mother, dispute,
Because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband;
But she must remove her infidelity from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked
And expose her as on the day she was born.
I will also make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land,
And put her to death with thirst.
4 Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are children of infidelity.
5 For their mother has committed prostitution;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
6 Therefore, behold, I will obstruct [d]her way with thorns,
And I will build [e]a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
7 And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband,
Because it was better for me then than now!’
8 “Yet she does not know that it was I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they [f]used for Baal.
9 Therefore, I will [g]take back My grain at [h]harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
That I gave to cover her nakedness.
10 So now I will uncover her [i]lewdness
Before the eyes of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11 I will also put an end to all her joy,
Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
12 And I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will turn them into a forest,
And the animals of the field will devour them.
13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals
When she used to [j]offer sacrifices to them
And adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” declares the Lord.
Restoration of Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak [k]kindly to her.
15 Then I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the [l]Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will [m]respond there as in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
16 And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me [n]my husband
And no longer call Me my [o]Baal.
17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will no longer be [p]mentioned by their names.
18 On that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the animals of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the crawling things of the ground.
And I will [q]eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
And will let them lie down in safety.
19 I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,
In favor and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will know the Lord.
21 “And it will come about on that day that I will respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22 And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil,
And they will respond to [r]Jezreel.
23 I will sow her for Myself in the land.
I will also have compassion on [s]her who had not obtained compassion,
And I will say to [t]those who were not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And [u]they will say, ‘You are my God!’”
Footnotes
Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Heb
Hosea 2:1 I.e., my people
Hosea 2:1 I.e., she has obtained compassion
Hosea 2:6 As in some ancient versions; MT your
Hosea 2:6 Lit her stone wall so that
Hosea 2:8 Or made into the
Hosea 2:9 Lit return and take My
Hosea 2:9 Lit its time
Hosea 2:10 Or shame
Hosea 2:13 Or burn incense
Hosea 2:14 Lit upon her heart
Hosea 2:15 Lit Valley of Trouble
Hosea 2:15 Or give answer
Hosea 2:16 Heb Ishi
Hosea 2:16 Also meaning husband in Heb, besides a name for false gods
Hosea 2:17 Or remembered
Hosea 2:18 Lit break
Hosea 2:22 I.e., God sows
Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ruhamah
Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ammi
Hosea 2:23 Lit he
Hosea’s Redemption of Gomer
3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love [a]a woman who is loved by her [b]husband, yet is committing adultery, as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love [c]raisin cakes.” 2 So I purchased her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and a [d]homer and a [e]lethech of barley. 3 Then I said to her, “You shall live with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute, nor shall you have another man; so I will also be toward you.” 4 For the sons of Israel will live for many days without a king or leader, without sacrifice or memorial stone, and without ephod or [f]household idols. 5 Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.
Footnotes
Hosea 3:1 I.e., Gomer
Hosea 3:1 Lit companion
Hosea 3:1 Used in idolatry
Hosea 3:2 About 7.7 cubic feet or 0.22 cubic meters
Hosea 3:2 About 3.8 cubic feet or 0.11 cubic meters
Hosea 3:4 Heb teraphim
God’s Controversy with Israel
4 Listen to the word of the Lord, you sons of Israel,
Because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land,
For there is no [a]faithfulness, nor [b]loyalty,
Nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is oath-taking, [c]denial, murder, stealing, and adultery.
They employ violence, so that bloodshed [d]follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky,
And even the fish of the sea [e]disappear.
4 Yet let no one [f]find fault, and let no one rebuke;
For your people are like those who contend with a priest.
5 So you will stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Since you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest.
Since you have forgotten the Law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will change their glory into shame.
8 They feed on the [g]sin of My people,
And long for their wrongdoing.
9 And it will be, like people, like priest;
So I will punish them for their ways
And repay them for their deeds.
10 They will eat, but not have enough;
They will play the prostitute, but not [h]increase,
Because they gave up devoting themselves to the Lord.
11 [i]Infidelity, wine, and new wine take away the [j]understanding.
12 My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;
For a spirit of infidelity has led them astray,
And they have been unfaithful, departing [k]from their God.
13 They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains
And [l]burn incense on the hills,
Under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
Because their shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters play the prostitute,
And your [m]brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute,
Or your [n]brides when they commit adultery,
Because the men themselves slip away with the prostitutes
And offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are ruined.
15 Though you, Israel, play the prostitute,
Judah must not become guilty;
Also you are not to go to Gilgal,
Nor go up to Beth-aven
And take the oath:
“As the Lord lives!”
16 Since Israel is stubborn
Like a stubborn cow,
[o]Will the Lord now pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?
17 Ephraim is allied with idols;
Leave him alone.
18 Their liquor is gone,
They prostitute themselves continually;
[p]Their [q]rulers dearly love shame.
19 The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be [r]put to shame because of their sacrifices.
Footnotes
Hosea 4:1 Or truth
Hosea 4:1 Or kindness
Hosea 4:2 I.e., of truth
Hosea 4:2 Lit touches
Hosea 4:3 Lit are taken away
Hosea 4:4 Lit contend
Hosea 4:8 Or sin offering
Hosea 4:10 I.e., either in population or wealth
Hosea 4:11 Or Prostitution
Hosea 4:11 Lit heart
Hosea 4:12 Lit from under
Hosea 4:13 Or offer sacrifices
Hosea 4:13 Or daughters-in-law
Hosea 4:14 Or daughters-in-law
Hosea 4:16 Or The Lord will now pasture...field.
Hosea 4:18 Another reading is They dearly love the shame of gifts
Hosea 4:18 Lit shields
Hosea 4:19 Or ashamed
The People’s Apostasy Rebuked
5 Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, you of the house of the king!
For the judgment applies to you,
Because you have been a trap at Mizpah,
And a net spread out on Tabor.
2 And the rebels have gone deep in [a]depravity,
But I will discipline all of them.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful,
Israel has defiled itself.
4 Their deeds will not allow them
To return to their God.
For a spirit of [b]infidelity is within them,
And they do not know the Lord.
5 Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their wrongdoing;
Judah also has stumbled with them.
6 They will go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them.
7 They have dealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have given birth to [c]illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them with their [d]land.
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
And the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
“Behind you, Benjamin!”
9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is trustworthy.
10 The leaders of Judah have become like those who displace a boundary marker;
On them I will pour out My anger like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, broken by judgment,
Because he was determined to follow [e]man’s command.
12 Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim,
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his [f]sore,
Ephraim then went to Assyria
And sent word to [g]King Jareb.
But he is unable to heal you,
Or to cure you of your [h]sore.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, yes I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be no one to rescue.
15 I will go away and return to My place
Until they [i]acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their distress they will search for Me.
Footnotes
Hosea 5:2 Or slaughter
Hosea 5:4 Or prostitution
Hosea 5:7 Lit strange
Hosea 5:7 Lit portions
Hosea 5:11 Or with some ancient versions, nothingness
Hosea 5:13 Or ulcer
Hosea 5:13 Or another reading is the great king; or the contentious king
Hosea 5:13 Or ulcer
Hosea 5:15 Or suffer their punishment
