Hosea 1
1The Lord gave this message to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.H1697H3068H1954H1121H882H3117H5818H3147H271H3169H4428H3063H3117H3379H1121H3101H4428H34782When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”H8462H1696H3068H1954H3068H559H1954H3212H3947H802H2183H3206H2183H776H2181H2181H310H30683So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.H3212H3947H1586H1323H1691H2029H3205H11214And the Lord said, “Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence.H3068H559H7121H8034H3157H4592H6485H1818H3157H1004H3058H7673H4468H1004H34785I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”H3117H7665H7198H3478H6010H31576Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.H2029H3205H1323H559H7121H8034H3819H3254H7355H1004H3478H5375H53757But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.”H7355H1004H3063H3467H3068H430H3467H7198H2719H4421H5483H65718After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son.H1580H3819H2029H3205H11219And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.H559H7121H8034H3818H597110“Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’H4557H1121H3478H2344H3220H4058H5608H4725H559H5971H559H1121H2416H41011Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be—the day of Jezreel—when God will again plant his people in his land.H1121H3063H1121H3478H6908H3162H7760H259H7218H5927H776H1419H3117H3157
Hosea 2
2“In that day you will call your brothers Ammi—‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah—‘The ones I love.’H559H251H5971H269H73552“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother—for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts.H7378H517H7378H802H376H5493H2183H6440H5005H76993Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness.H6584H6174H3322H3117H3205H7760H4057H7896H6723H776H4191H67724And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.H7355H1121H1121H21835Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’H517H2181H2029H3001H559H3212H310H157H5414H3899H4325H6785H6593H8081H82506“For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way.H7753H1870H5518H1443H1447H4672H54107When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’H7291H157H5381H1245H4672H559H3212H7725H7223H376H2896H62588She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has—the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.H3045H5414H1715H8492H3323H7235H3701H2091H6213H11689“But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness.H7725H3947H1715H6256H8492H4150H5337H6785H6593H3680H617210I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands.H1540H5040H5869H157H376H5337H302711I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.H4885H7673H2282H2320H7676H415012I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees, things she claims her lovers gave her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit.H8074H1612H8384H559H866H157H5414H7760H3293H2416H7704H39813I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the Lord.H6485H3117H1168H6999H5710H5141H2484H3212H310H157H7911H5002H306814“But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.H6601H3212H4057H1696H382015I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.H5414H3754H6010H5911H6607H8615H6030H3117H5271H3117H5927H776H471416When that day comes,” says the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’H3117H5002H3068H7121H376H7121H118017O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again.H5493H8034H1168H6310H2142H803418On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety.H3117H3772H1285H2416H7704H5775H8064H7431H127H7665H7198H2719H4421H776H7901H98319I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.H781H5769H781H6664H4941H2617H735620I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.H781H530H3045H306821“In that day, I will answer,” says the Lord. “I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain.H3117H6030H5002H3068H6030H8064H6030H77622Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’H776H6030H1715H8492H3323H6030H315723At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”H2232H776H7355H7355H3818H559H5971H5971H559H430
Hosea 3
3Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.”H559H3068H3212H157H802H157H7453H5003H160H3068H1121H3478H6437H312H430H157H809H6025 2So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.H3739H6240H2568H3701H2563H8184H3963H8184 3Then I said to her, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me.”H559H3427H7227H3117H2181H1961H376 4This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!H1121H3478H3427H7227H3117H4428H8269H2077H4676H646H8655 5But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to David’s descendant, their king. In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the Lord and of his goodness.H310H1121H3478H7725H1245H3068H430H1732H4428H6342H3068H2898H319H3117
Hosea 4
4Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.H8085H1697H3068H1121H3478H3068H7379H3427H776H571H2617H1847H430H7762You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere—one murder after another.H422H3584H7523H1589H5003H6555H1818H5060H18183That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.H776H56H3427H535H2416H7704H5775H8064H1709H3220H6224“Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you.H376H7378H3198H376H5971H7378H35485So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother.H3782H3117H5030H3782H3915H1820H5176My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.H5971H1820H1847H3988H1847H3988H3547H7911H8451H430H7911H11217The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols.H7230H2398H4171H3519H70368“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin!H398H2403H5971H5375H5315H57719‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’ So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds.H5971H3548H6485H1870H7725H461110They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the LordH398H7646H2181H6555H5800H8104H306811to worship other gods. “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding.H2184H3196H8492H3947H382012They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.H5971H7592H6086H4731H5046H7307H2183H8582H2181H43013They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.H2076H7218H2022H6999H1389H437H3839H424H6738H2896H1323H2181H3618H500314But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes. O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed.H6485H1323H2181H3618H5003H6504H2181H2076H6948H5971H995H383215“Though you, Israel, are a prostitute, may Judah avoid such guilt. Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, even though they take oaths there in the Lord’s name.H3478H2181H3063H816H935H1537H5927H1007H7650H3068H241616Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture?H3478H5637H5637H6510H3068H7462H3532H480017Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry.H669H2266H6091H324018When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor.H5435H5493H2181H2181H4043H7036H157H305119So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.H7307H6887H3671H954H2077
Dublin, OH
was king of Israel.H1697
