Hosea 1

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 king of Israel:^h

Hosea’s Wife and Children

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

Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel,^d 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. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.^e”

Gomer^f conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”),^g for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel,^h that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow,ⁱ sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the Lord their God.^j”

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

^*“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted.^m In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’^no The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together;^p they will appoint one leader^q and will come up out of the land,^r for great will be the day of Jezreel.^s