Hosea 1–2
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, a Jotham, b Ahaz, c and Hezekiah, d kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam e son of Jehoash, king of Israel.
2 When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him:
Go and marry a promiscuous wife f
and have children of promiscuity,
for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity
by abandoning the Lord.
3 So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. g 4 Then the Lord said to him:
Name him Jezreel, h for in a little while
I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel i
on the house of Jehu j
and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel k
6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him:
Name her No Compassion, n
for I will no longer have compassion
on the house of Israel.
I will certainly take them away.
7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, o
and I will deliver them by the Lord their God. p
I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war,
or by horses and cavalry. q
8 After Gomer had weaned No Compassion, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 Then the Lord said:
Name him Not My People, r
for you are not My people,
and I will not be your God. s t
10 u Yet the number of the Israelites
will be like the sand of the sea, v
which cannot be measured or counted.
And in the place where they were told:
You are not My people,
they will be called: Sons of the living God. w
11 And the Judeans and the Israelites
will be gathered together. x
They will appoint for themselves a single ruler y
and go up from z the land.
For the day of Jezreel a will be great.
2 b Call c your brothers: My People
and your sisters: Compassion.
2 Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. d
For she is not My wife and I am not her husband. e
Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face f
and her adultery from between her breasts.
3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked g
and expose her as she was on the day of her birth.
I will make her like a desert h
and like a parched land,
and I will let her die of thirst. i
4 I will have no compassion on her children j
because they are the children of promiscuity.
5 Yes, their mother is promiscuous;
she conceived them and acted shamefully. k
For she thought, “I will go after my lovers, l
the men who give me my food and water,
my wool and flax, my oil and drink.” m
6 Therefore, this is what I will do:
I will block her n way o with thorns; p
I will enclose her with a wall,
so that she cannot find her paths. q
7 She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; r
she will seek them but not find them.
Then she will think,
“I will go back to my former husband, s
for then it was better for me than now.” t
8 She does not recognize u
that it is I who gave her the grain, v
the new wine, and the oil.
I lavished silver and gold on her,
which they used for * Baal.
9 Therefore, I will take back My grain in its time w
and My new wine in its season;
I will take away My wool and linen,
which were to cover her nakedness.
10 Now I will expose her shame x
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one will rescue her from My hands.
11 I will put an end to all her celebrations: y
her feasts, z New Moons, a and Sabbaths—
all her festivals.
12 I will devastate her vines and fig trees. b
She thinks that these are her wages
that her lovers have given her.
I will turn them into a thicket, c
and the wild animals will eat them. d
13 And I will punish her for the days of the Baals e
when she burned incense to them, f
put on her rings and jewelry, g
and went after her lovers,
but forgot Me. h
This is the Lord’s declaration.
14 Therefore, I am going to persuade her,
lead her to the wilderness, i
and speak tenderly to her. j
15 There I will give her vineyards back to her k
and make the Valley of Achor l m
into a gateway of hope.
There she will respond as she did
in the days of her youth, n
as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will call Me, “My husband,” o
and no longer call Me, “My Baal.” p
17 For I will remove the names of the Baals
from her mouth;
they will no longer be remembered by their names.
18 On that day I will make a covenant for them
with the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the creatures that crawl on the ground. q
I will shatter bow, sword,
and weapons of war in the land r s
and will enable the people to rest securely. t
19 I will take you to be My wife forever. u
I will take you to be My wife in righteousness,
justice, love, and compassion. v
20 I will take you to be My wife in faithfulness,
21 On that day I will respond x—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will respond to the sky,
and it will respond to the earth.
22 The earth will respond to the grain, y
the new wine, and the oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.
23 I will sow her z in the land for Myself, a
and I will have compassion b
on No Compassion;
I will say c to Not My People: d
You are My people, e
and he will say, “You are My God.”