Hosea 1

1The 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

²When 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.”

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

^5jIt shall come to pass in that day

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

⁶And 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.

^7lYet 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.”

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

^11rThen 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!