Hosea 1:1–11

The word of the Lord that came^a to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah,^b Jotham,^c Ahaz^d and Hezekiah,^e kings of Judah,^f and during the reign of Jeroboam^g son of Jehoash^a king of Israel:^h

Hosea’s Wife and Children

²When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuousⁱ woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness^j to the Lord.” ³So he married Gomer^k daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

⁴Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel,^l because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. ⁵In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.^m”

⁶Gomerⁿ conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”),^o for I will no longer show love to Israel,^p that I should at all forgive them. ⁷Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow,^q sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God,^r will save them.”

⁸After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah,^s Gomer had another son. ⁹Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.^bt

¹⁰“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted.^u In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’^{v 11}The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together;^w they will appoint one leader^x and will come up out of the land,^y for great will be the day of Jezreel.^cz