1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of aUzziah, bJotham, cAhaz, and dHezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of eJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

The Family of Hosea

2 When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea:

f“Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry

And children of harlotry,

For gthe land has committed great 1harlotry

By departing from the Lord.”

3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said to him:

“Call his name Jezreel,

For in a little while

hI will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu,

iAnd bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

5 jIt shall come to pass in that day

That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him:

“Call her name 2Lo-Ruhamah,

kFor I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel,

3But I will utterly take them away.

7 lYet I will have mercy on the house of Judah,

Will save them by the Lord their God,

And mwill not save them by bow,

Nor by sword or battle,

By horses or horsemen.”

8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then God said:

“Call his name 4Lo-Ammi,

For you are not My people,

And I will not be your God.

The Restoration of Israel

10 “Yet nthe number of the children of Israel

Shall be as the sand of the sea,

Which cannot be measured or numbered.

oAnd it shall come to pass

In the place where it was said to them,

‘You are 5not My ppeople,’

There it shall be said to them,

‘You are qsons of the living God.’

11 rThen the children of Judah and the children of Israel

Shall be gathered together,

And appoint for themselves one head;

And they shall come up out of the land,

For great will be the day of Jezreel!

2 Say to your brethren, 1‘My people,’ And to your sisters, 2‘Mercy is shown.’

God’s Unfaithful People

2 “Bring 3charges against your mother, 4bring charges;

For ashe is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!

Let her put away her bharlotries from her sight,

And her adulteries from between her breasts;

3 Lest cI strip her naked

And expose her, as in the day she was dborn,

And make her like a wilderness,

And set her like a dry land,

And slay her with ethirst.

4 “I will not have mercy on her children,

For they are the fchildren of harlotry.

5 For their mother has played the harlot;

She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.

For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,

gWho give me my bread and my water,

My wool and my linen,

My oil and my drink.’

6 “Therefore, behold,

hI will hedge up your way with thorns,

And 5wall her in,

So that she cannot find her paths.

7 She will 6chase her lovers,

But not overtake them;

Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.

Then she will say,

i‘I will go and return to my jfirst husband,

For then it was better for me than now.’

8 For she did not kknow

That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil,

And multiplied her silver and gold—

Which they prepared for Baal.

9 “Therefore I will return and take away

My grain in its time

And My new wine in its season,

And will take back My wool and My linen,

Given to cover her nakedness.

10 Now lI will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,

And no one shall deliver her from My hand.

11 mI will also cause all her mirth to cease,

Her feast days,

Her New Moons,

Her Sabbaths—

All her appointed feasts.

12 “And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,

Of which she has said,

‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’

So I will make them a forest,

And the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13 I will punish her

For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense.

She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry,

And went after her lovers;

But Me she forgot,” says the Lord.

God’s Mercy on His People

14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

Will bring her into the wilderness,

And speak 7comfort to her.

15 I will give her her vineyards from there,

And nthe Valley of Achor as a door of hope;

She shall sing there,

As in othe days of her youth,

pAs in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

16 “And it shall be, in that day,”

Says the Lord,

“That you will call Me 8‘My Husband,’

And no longer call Me 9‘My Master,’

17 For qI will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,

And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

18 In that day I will make a rcovenant for them

With the beasts of the field,

With the birds of the air,

And with the creeping things of the ground.

Bow and sword of battle sI will shatter from the earth,

To make them tlie down safely.

19 “I will betroth you to Me forever;

Yes, I will betroth you to Me

In righteousness and justice,

In lovingkindness and mercy;

20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,

And uyou shall know the Lord.

21 “It shall come to pass in that day

That vI will answer,” says the Lord;

“I will answer the heavens,

And they shall answer the earth.

22 The earth shall answer

With grain,

With new wine,

And with oil;

They shall answer 1Jezreel.

23 Then wI will sow her for Myself in the earth,

xAnd I will have mercy on her who had 2not obtained mercy;

Then yI will say to those who were 3not My people,

‘You are 4My people!’

And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”

Israel Will Return to God

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a alover 1and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.”

2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You shall bstay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.”

4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days cwithout king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without dephod or eteraphim. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and fseek the Lord their God and gDavid their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the hlatter days.

God’s Charge Against Israel

4 Hear the word of the Lord,

You children of Israel,

For the Lord brings a acharge 1against the inhabitants of the land:

“There is no truth or mercy

Or bknowledge of God in the land.

2 By swearing and lying,

Killing and stealing and committing adultery,

They break all restraint,

With bloodshed 2upon bloodshed.

3 Therefore cthe land will mourn;

And deveryone who dwells there will waste away

With the beasts of the field

And the birds of the air;

Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

4 “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;

For your people are like those ewho contend with the priest.

5 Therefore you shall stumble fin the day;

The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;

And I will destroy your mother.

6 gMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

hBecause you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

7 “The more they increased,

The more they sinned against Me;

iI 3will change 4their glory into shame.

8 They eat up the sin of My people;

They set their 5heart on their iniquity.

9 And it shall be: jlike people, like priest.

So I will punish them for their ways,

And 6reward them for their deeds.

10 For kthey shall eat, but not have enough;

They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;

Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.

The Idolatry of Israel

11 “Harlotry, wine, and new wine lenslave the heart.

12 My people ask counsel from their mwooden idols,

And their 7staff informs them.

For nthe spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,

And they have played the harlot against their God.

13 oThey offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,

And burn incense on the hills,

Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,

Because their shade is good.

pTherefore your daughters commit harlotry,

And your brides commit adultery.

14 “I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,

Nor your brides when they commit adultery;

For the men themselves go apart with harlots,

And offer sacrifices with a qritual harlot.

Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.

15 “Though you, Israel, play the harlot,

Let not Judah offend.

rDo not come up to Gilgal,

Nor go up to sBeth 8Aven,

tNor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—

16 “For Israel uis stubborn

Like a stubborn calf;

Now the Lord will let them forage

Like a lamb in 9open country.

17 “Ephraim is joined to idols,

vLet him alone.

18 Their drink 1is rebellion,

They commit harlotry continually.

wHer 2rulers 3dearly love dishonor.

19 xThe wind has wrapped her up in its wings,

And ythey shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah

5 “Hear this, O priests!

Take heed, O house of Israel!

Give ear, O house of the king!

For 1yours is the judgment,

Because ayou have been a snare to Mizpah

And a net spread on Tabor.

2 The revolters are bdeeply involved in slaughter,

Though I rebuke them all.

3 cI know Ephraim,

And Israel is not hidden from Me;

For now, O Ephraim, dyou commit harlotry;

Israel is defiled.

4 “They 2do not direct their deeds

Toward turning to their God,

For ethe spirit of harlotry is in their midst,

And they do not know the Lord.

5 The fpride of Israel testifies to his face;

Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;

Judah also stumbles with them.

6 “With their flocks and herds

gThey shall go to seek the Lord,

But they will not find Him;

He has withdrawn Himself from them.

7 They have hdealt treacherously with the Lord,

For they have begotten 3pagan children.

Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.

8 “Blow ithe ram’s horn in Gibeah,

The trumpet in Ramah!

jCry aloud at kBeth Aven,

‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’

9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke;

Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.

10 “The princes of Judah are like those who lremove a landmark;

I will pour out my wrath on them like water.

11 Ephraim is moppressed and broken in judgment,

Because he willingly walked by nhuman precept.

12 Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth,

And to the house of Judah olike rottenness.

13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness,

And Judah saw his pwound,

Then Ephraim went qto Assyria

And sent to King