Hosea 1–2

1The 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.

HOSEA’S MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

²When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, he said this to him:

Go and marry a woman of promiscuity,^f

and have children of promiscuity,

for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity

by abandoning the Lord.

³So 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,^Ah for in a little while

I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreelⁱ

on the house of Jehu^j

and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

⁵On that day I will break the bow of Israel^k

in Jezreel Valley.^l

⁶She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him:

Name her Lo-ruhamah,^B

for I will no longer have compassion

on the house of Israel.

I will certainly take them away.

⁷But I will have compassion on the house of Judah,^m

and I will deliver them by the Lord their God.ⁿ

I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war,

or by horses and cavalry.^o

⁸After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. ⁹Then the Lord said:

Name him Lo-ammi,^C

for you are not my people,

and I will not be your God.^Dp

¹⁰Yet the number of the Israelites

will be like the sand of the sea,^q

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.^r

¹¹And the Judeans and the Israelites

will be gathered together.^s

They will appoint for themselves a single ruler^t

and go up from^E the land.

For the day of Jezreel^u will be great.

2Call^F your brothers: My People

and your sisters: Compassion.

ISRAEL’S ADULTERY REBUKED

²Rebuke your mother; rebuke her.^v

For she is not my wife and I am not her husband.^w

Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face^x

and her adultery from between her breasts.

³Otherwise, I will strip her naked^y

and expose her as she was on the day of her birth.

I will make her like a desert^z

and like a parched land,

and I will let her die of thirst.^aa

⁴I will have no compassion on her children^ab

because they are the children of promiscuity.

⁵Yes, their mother is promiscuous;

she conceived them and acted shamefully.^ac

For she thought, “I will follow my lovers,^ad

the men who give me my food and water,

my wool and flax, my oil and drink.”^ae

⁶Therefore, this is what I will do:

I will block her^A way^af with thorns;^ag

I will enclose her with a wall,

so that she cannot find her paths.^a

⁷She will pursue her lovers but not catch them;^b

she will look for them but not find them.

Then she will think,

“I will go back to my former husband,^c

for then it was better for me than now.”^d

⁸She does not recognize^e

that it is I who gave her the grain,^f

the new wine, and the fresh oil.

I lavished silver and gold on her,

which they used for Baal.

⁹Therefore, I will take back my grain in its time^g

and my new wine in its season;

I will take away my wool and linen,

which were to cover her nakedness.

¹⁰Now I will expose her shame^h

in the sight of her lovers,

and no one will rescue her from my power.

¹¹I will put an end to all her celebrations:ⁱ

her feasts,^j New Moons,^k and Sabbaths—

all her festivals.

¹²I will devastate her vines and fig trees.^l

She thinks that these are her wages

that her lovers have given her.

I will turn them into a thicket,^m

and the wild animals will eat them.ⁿ

¹³And I will punish her for the days of the Baals,^o

to which she burned incense.^p

She put on her rings and her jewelry^q

and followed her lovers,

but she forgot me.^r

This is the Lord’s declaration.

ISRAEL’S ADULTERY FORGIVEN

¹⁴Therefore, I am going to persuade her,

lead her to the wilderness,^s

and speak tenderly to her.^B

¹⁵There I will give her vineyards back to her^t

and make the Valley of Achor^Au

into a gateway of hope.

There she will respond as she did

in the days of her youth,^v

as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁶In that day—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

you will call me, “My husband,”^w

and no longer call me, “My Baal.”^B

¹⁷For I will remove the names of the Baals

from her mouth;

they will no longer be remembered by their names.

¹⁸On 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.^x

I will shatter bow, sword,

and weapons of war in the land^Cy

and will enable the people to rest securely.^z

¹⁹I will take you to be my wife forever.^aa

I will take you to be my wife in righteousness,

justice, love, and compassion.^ab

²⁰I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness,

and you will know the Lord.^ac

²¹On that day I will respond^ad—

this is the Lord’s declaration.

I will respond to the sky,

and it will respond to the earth.

²²The earth will respond to the grain,^ae

the new wine, and the fresh oil,

and they will respond to Jezreel.

²³I will sow her^D in the land for myself,^af

and I will have compassion^ag

on Lo-ruhamah;

I will say to Lo-ammi:^ah

You are my people,^ai

and he will say, “You are my God.”