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¹The word of the LORD that came to 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.

²When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and have children of [her] prostitution; for the land commits great acts of prostitution by not following the LORD."

³So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

⁴And the LORD said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for yet in a little while I will avenge the blood [that was shed in the Valley] of Jezreel and inflict the punishment for it on the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

⁵On that day I will break the bow [of the military power] of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel."

⁶Then Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to Hosea, "Name her Lo-Ruhamah (not shown mercy), for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.

⁷But I will have mercy on the house of Judah and will rescue them by the LORD their God, and will not rescue them by bow, sword, war, horses, or horsemen."

⁸Now when Gomer had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son.

⁹And the LORD said, "Name him Lo-Ammi (not my people), for you are not My people and I am not your God."

¹⁰Yet the number of the sons of Israel Shall be like the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered; 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."

¹¹Then the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be gathered together, And they will appoint for themselves one leader, And they will go up from the land, For great and glorious will be the day of Jezreel.

¹"[Hosea,] say to your brothers, 'Ammi (you are my people),' and to your sisters, 'Ruhamah (you have been pitied and have obtained mercy).'

²"Contend with your mother (nation); contend, For she is not my wife and I am not her husband; And have her remove her [marks of] prostitution from her face And her adultery from between her breasts

³Or I will strip her naked And expose her as on the day she was born, And make her like a wilderness And make her like a parched land And slay her with thirst.

⁴"Also, I will have no mercy on her children, Because they are the children of prostitution.

⁵"For their mother has played the prostitute; She who conceived them has acted shamefully, For she said, 'I will pursue my lovers Who give me my food and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my [refreshing] drinks.'

⁶"Therefore, behold, I [the LORD God] will hedge up her way with thorns; And I will build a wall against her [shutting off her way] so that she cannot find her paths.

⁷"She will [passionately] pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, 'Let me go and return to my first husband, For it was better for me then than now!'

⁸"For she (Israel) has not noticed nor understood nor realized that it was I [the LORD God] who gave her the grain and the new wine and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they used for Baal and made into his image.

⁹"Therefore, I will return and take back My grain at harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax Given to cover her nakedness.

¹⁰"And now I will uncover her lewdness and shame In the sight of her lovers, And no one will rescue her from My hand.

¹¹"I will also put an end to all her rejoicing, Her feasts, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festivals.

¹²"I will destroy her vines and her fig trees Of which she has said, 'These are my wages Which my lovers have given me.' And I will make them a forest, And the animals of the open country will devour them.

¹³"And I will punish her for the [feast] days of the Baals, When she used to offer sacrifices and burn incense to them And adorn herself with her earrings and nose rings and her jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me," says the LORD.

¹⁴"Therefore, behold, I will allure Israel And bring her into the wilderness, And I will speak tenderly to her [to reconcile her to Me].

¹⁵"Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And make the Valley of Achor a door of hope and expectation [anticipating the time when I will restore My favor on her]. And she will sing there and respond as in the days of her youth As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

¹⁶"It shall come about in that day," says the LORD, "That you will call Me Ishi (my husband) And will no longer call Me Baali (my Baal).

¹⁷"For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will no longer be mentioned or remembered by their names.

¹⁸"And in that day I will make a covenant for Israel With the animals of the open country And with the birds of the heavens And with the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow and the sword and [banish] war from the land And will make them lie down in safety.

¹⁹"And I will betroth you (Israel) to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and loyalty, and in compassion.

²⁰"I will betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness. Then you will know (recognize, appreciate) the LORD [and respond with loving faithfulness].

²¹"It will come about in that day that I will respond," says the LORD. "I will respond to the heavens [which ask for rain to pour on the earth], and they will respond to the earth [which begs for the rain],

²²And the earth shall respond to the grain and the new wine and the oil [which beg it to bring them forth], And they will respond to Jezreel [My Israel, who will now be restored].

²³"I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; And I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people,' And they will say, 'You are my God!'"

¹Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman ( Gomer) who is beloved by her husband and yet is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love the raisin cakes [used in the feasts in pagan worship]."

²So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley [the price of a common slave].

³And I said to her, "You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you [until you have proved your faithfulness]."

⁴For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or [idolatrous] pillar, and without ephod or teraphim (household idols).

⁵Afterward the sons of Israel will return [in deep repentance] and seek the LORD their God and [seek from the line of] David their king [the King of kings—the Messiah]; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness and blessing in the last days.

¹Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, For the LORD has a [legal] case with the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness [no steadfast love, no dependability] or loyalty or kindness Or knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.

²There is [false] swearing of oaths, deception (broken faith), murder, stealing, and adultery; They employ violence, so that one [act of] bloodshed follows closely on another.

³Therefore the land [continually] mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes [in tragic suffering] Together with the animals of the open country and the birds of the heavens; Even the fish of the sea disappear.

⁴Yet let no one find fault, nor let any rebuke [others]; For your people are like those who contend with the priest.

⁵So you will stumble in the daytime, And the [false] prophet will also stumble with you in the night; And I will destroy your mother (Israel).

⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [of My law, where I reveal My will]. Because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

⁷The more they multiplied [in numbers and increased in power], the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.

⁸They (the priests) feed on the sin offering of My people And set their heart on their wickedness.

⁹And it shall be: like people, like priest [both are wicked and both will be judged]; So I will punish them for their ways And repay them for their deeds.

¹⁰They will eat, but not have enough; They will play the prostitute, but not increase [their descendants], Because they have stopped giving heed to the LORD.

¹¹Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away the mind and the [spiritual] understanding.

¹²My people consult their [lifeless] wooden idol, and their [diviner's] wand gives them oracles. For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray [morally and spiritually], And they have played the prostitute, withdrawing themselves from their God.

¹³They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because the shade is pleasant there. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute And your brides commit adultery.

¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute Or your brides when they commit adultery, For the men themselves slip away with prostitutes, And they offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes [who give their bodies in honor of the idol]. So the people without understanding [stumble and fall and] come to ruin.

¹⁵Though you, Israel, play the prostitute [by worshiping idols], Do not let Judah become guilty [of the same thing]; And do not go to Gilgal [where idols are worshiped], Or go up to Beth-aven (House of Wickedness), Nor swear [oaths in idolatrous worship, saying], "As the LORD lives!"

¹⁶For Israel is stubborn, Like a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now pasture them Like a lamb in a large field?

¹⁷Ephraim is joined to idols, So let him alone [to suffer the consequences].

¹⁸When their liquor is gone [and their drinking parties are over], They habitually go to play the prostitute; Ephraim's rulers continue to dearly love shame [more than her glory which is the LORD, Israel's God].

¹⁹The wind [of God's relentless wrath] has wrapped up Israel in its wings, And [in captivity] they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices [to calves, to sun, to moon, to stars, and to pagan gods].