Hosea 3–4

Hosea Buys a Wife

3The Lord said to me again, “Go, show your love to a woman loved by someone else, who has been unfaithful to you. In the same way the Lord loves the people of Israel, even though they worship other gods and love to eat the raisin cakes.” ⁿ

²So I bought her for six ounces of silver and ten bushels of barley. ³Then I told her, “You must wait for me for many days. You must not be a prostitute, and you must not have sexual relations with any other man. I will act the same way toward you.”

⁴In the same way Israel will live many days without a king or leader, without sacrifices or holy stone pillars, and without the holy vest or an idol. ⁵After this, the people of Israel will return to the Lord their God and follow him and the king from David’s family. In the last days they will turn in fear to the Lord, and he will bless them.

The Lord’s Word Against Israel

4People of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message.

The Lord has this

against you who live in the land:

“The people are not true, not loyal to God,

nor do those who live in the land even know him.

²Cursing, lying, killing, stealing and adultery are everywhere.

One murder follows another.

³Because of this the land dries up,

and all its people are dying.

Even the wild animals and the birds of the air

and the fish of the sea are dying.

God’s Case Against the Priests

⁴“No one should accuse

or blame another person.

Don’t blame the people, you priests,

when they quarrel with you.

⁵You will be ruined in the day,

and your prophets will be ruined with you in the night.

I will also destroy your mother. ⁿ

⁶My people will be destroyed,

because they have no knowledge.

You have refused to learn,

so I will refuse to let you be priests to me.

You have forgotten the teachings of your God,

so I will forget your children.

⁷The more priests there are,

the more they sin against me.

I will take away their honor

and give them shame.

⁸Since the priests live off the sin offerings of the people,

they want the people to sin more and more.

⁹The priests are as wrong as the people,

and I will punish them both for what they have done.

I will repay them for the wrong they have done.

¹⁰“They will eat

but not have enough;

they will have sexual relations with the prostitutes,

but they will not have children,

because they have left the Lord

to give themselves to ¹¹prostitution,

to old and new wine,

which take away their ability to understand.

God’s Case Against the People

¹²“My people ask wooden idols for advice;

they ask those sticks of wood to advise them!

Like prostitutes, they have chased after other gods

and have left their own God.

¹³They make sacrifices on the tops of the mountains.

They burn offerings on the hills,

under oaks, poplars, and other trees,

because their shade is nice.

So your daughters become prostitutes,

and your daughters-in-law are guilty of adultery.

¹⁴“But I will not punish your daughters

for becoming prostitutes,

nor your daughters-in-law

for their sins of adultery.

I will not punish them,

because the men have sexual relations with prostitutes

and offer sacrifices with the temple prostitutes.

A foolish people will be ruined.

¹⁵“Israel, you act like a prostitute,

but do not be guilty toward the Lord.

Don’t go to Gilgal

or go up to Beth Aven. ⁿ

Don’t make promises,

saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives …’

¹⁶The people of Israel are stubborn

like a stubborn young cow.

Now the Lord will feed them

like lambs in the open country.

¹⁷The Israelites have chosen to worship idols,

so leave them alone.

¹⁸When they finish their drinking,

they completely give themselves to being prostitutes;

they love these disgraceful ways.

¹⁹They will be swept away as if by a whirlwind,

and their sacrifices will bring them only shame.