Hosea 1; Hosea 2; Hosea 3; Hosea 4

1 The LORD's word that came to Hosea, Beeri's son, in the days of Judah's Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, and in the days of Israel's King Jeroboam, Joash's son.

2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to him,"Go, marry a prostitute and have children of prostitution, for the people of the land commit great prostitution by deserting the LORD."

3 So Hosea went and took Gomer, Diblaim's daughter, and she became pregnant and bore him a son.

4 The LORD said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will destroy the kingdom of the house of Israel.

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

6 Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Name her No Compassion, because I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel or forgive them.

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

8 When Gomer finished nursing No Compassion, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son.

9 Then the LORD said, "Name him Not My People because you are not my people, and I am not your God."

10 Yet the number of the people of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it will be said to them, "Children of the living God."

11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together, and they will choose one head. They will become fruitful in the land. The day will be a wonderful one for Jezreel.

1 Say to your brother, My People, and to your sister, Compassion:

2 Level a charge against your mother; plead with her! She is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove prostitution from her presence, and adultery from between her breasts,

3 or else I will strip her naked and expose her as on the day she was born. I will make her like a desert, and turn her into a dry land, and make her die of thirst.

4 I will also have no compassion on her children because they are children of prostitution.

5 Their mother has played the prostitute; she who conceived them has behaved shamefully. She said, "I will seek out my lovers; they give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen cloth, my oil and my drink."

6 Therefore, I will line her path with thorns; and I will build a wall against her, so that she can't find her paths.

7 She will go after her lovers, but she won't catch up with them; she will seek them, but she won't find them. Then she will say, "I will return to my first husband, for I had it better then than now."

8 She didn't know that I gave her the corn, the new wine, and the fresh oil, and that I gave her much silver, and gold that they used for Baal.

9 So now I will take back my corn in its time, and my wine in its season; and I will take away my wool and my linen cloth, which were to cover her nakedness.

10 Now I will uncover her nakedness in plain view of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from me.

11 I will end all her religious celebrations, her festivals, her new moons, her Sabbath days, and all her sacred seasons.

12 I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, "These are my pay, which my lovers have given to me." I will change them into a forest, and the wild animals will eat them.

13 I will punish her for the days dedicated to the Baals, when she offered sweet-smelling sacrifices to them and dressed herself up with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the LORD.

14 Therefore, I will charm her, and bring her into the desert, and speak tenderly to her heart.

15 From there I will give her vineyards, and make the Achor Valley a door of hope. There she will respond to me as in the days of her youth, like the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

16 On that day, says the LORD, you will call me, "My husband," and no longer will you call me, "My Lord."

17 I will take away the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they will not be mentioned by name anymore.

18 On that day, I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the creeping creatures of the fertile ground. I will do away with the bow, the sword, and war from the land; I will make you lie down in safety.

19 I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in devoted love, and in mercy.

20 I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you will know the LORD.

21 On that day I will answer, says the LORD. I will answer the heavens and they will answer the earth.

22 The earth will answer the corn, the new wine, and the fresh oil, and they will answer Jezreel;

23 I will sow him for myself in the land; and I will have compassion on No Compassion, and I will say to Not My People, "You are my people"; and he will say, "You are my God."

1 Then the LORD said to me again, "Go, make love to a woman who has a lover and is involved in adultery, just as the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes."

2 So I bought her for fifteen pieces of silver, a large amount of barley, and a portion of wine.

3 I said to her, "You must stay with me for many days; you won't act like a prostitute; you won't have sex with a man, nor I with you."

4 Similarly, the Israelites will remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred standing stone, without a priestly vest or household divine images.

5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; they will come trembling to the LORD and to the LORD's goodness in the latter days.

1 Hear the LORD's word, people of Israel; for the LORD has a dispute with the inhabitants of the land. There's no faithful love or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land.

2 Swearing, lying, murder, together with stealing and adultery are common; bloody crime followed by bloody crime.

3 Therefore, the earth itself becomes sick, and all who live on it grow weak; together with the wild animals and the birds in the sky, even the fish of the sea are dying.

4 Yet let no one protest, and let no one complain. Listen, priest, I am angry with your people.

5 You will stumble by day; and at nighttime so will your prophet, and I will destroy your mother.

6 My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, so I will reject you from serving me as a priest. Since you have forgotten the Instruction of your God, so also I will forget your children.

7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glory for shame.

8 They feed on the sin of my people; they set their hearts on evil things.

9 The priest will be just like the people; I will punish them for their ways, and judge them for their deeds.

10 They will eat but not be satisfied; they will have sex like prostitutes, but they will not have children, because they have rejected the LORD to devote themselves to

11 false religious practices. Wine and new wine destroy understanding.

12 My people take advice from a piece of wood, and their divining rod gives them predictions. A spirit of prostitution has led them astray; they have left God to follow other gods.

13 They offer sacrifices on mountaintops, and make entirely burned offerings on hills; they offer sacrifices under various green trees, because their shade is pleasant. Therefore, your daughters act like prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

14 I will not punish your daughters because they act like prostitutes, nor your daughters-in-law because they commit adultery; for the men themselves visit prostitutes, and offer sacrifices with consecrated workers at temples; so now the people without sense must come to ruin.

15 Israel, even though you act like a prostitute, don't let Judah become guilty. Don't enter into Gilgal, or go up to Beth-aven, and don't swear, "As the LORD lives."

16 Like a stubborn cow Israel is stubborn. Now the LORD will tend them, as the LORD tends a lamb in a pasture.

17 Ephraim is associated with idols— let him alone!

18 Though they have stopped drinking, they continue to behave like prostitutes; indeed, they “love”; shame is their pride.

19 The wind has wrapped her in its wings; they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.