Hosea’s Wife and Children
The word of Yahweh which came to aHosea the son of Beeri, in the days of bUzziah, cJotham, dAhaz, and eHezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of fJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
2 When Yahweh first spoke through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, “aGo, take for yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for bthe land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking Yahweh.” 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and agave birth to a son for him. 4 And Yahweh said to him, “Name him aJezreel; for yet a little while, and bI will visit the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and cI will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. 5 And it will be in that day, that I will abreak the bow of Israel in the bvalley of Jezreel.”
6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And Yahweh said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer ahave compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. 7 But I will have acompassion on the house of Judah and bsave them by Yahweh their God, and I will not save them by cbow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”
8 Then she weaned Lo-ruhamah. And she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 And Yahweh said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.”
10 Yet the number of the sons of Israel
Will be like the asand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or numbered;
And it will be that bin the place
Where it is said to them,
“You are cnot My people,”
It will be said to them,
“You are the dsons of the living God.”
11 And the asons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be bgathered together,
And they will set for themselves cone head,
And they will go up from the land,
For great will be the day of Jezreel.
No Compassion for Children of Harlotry
Say to your brothers, “Ammi,” and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.”
2 “Contend with your mother, acontend,
For she is bnot my wife, and I am not her husband;
And let her remove her charlotry from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
3 Lest I strip her anaked
And set her forth as on the bday when she was born
And cmake her like a wilderness
And make her like dry land
And put her to death with dthirst.
4 Also, I will have no compassion on her children
Because they are achildren of harlotry.
5 For their mother has aplayed the harlot;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘aI will go after my lovers,
Who bgive me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my coil and my drink.’
6 Therefore, behold, I will ahedge up her way with bthorns,
And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her cpaths.
7 So she will apursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘bI will go, and I will return to my cfirst husband,
For it was dbetter for me then than now!’
8 “Now she does anot know that it was bI who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And multiplied silver and gold for her,
Which they used for Baal.
9 Therefore, I will atake back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also deliver My wool and My flax from them
Given to cover her nakedness.
10 So now I will auncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will deliver her out of My hand.
11 I will also acease all her joy,
Her bfeasts, her cnew moons, her sabbaths,
And all her appointed times.
12 And I will amake desolate her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘These are my wages
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will bmake them a forest,
And the cbeasts of the field will devour them.
13 So I will visit the adays of the Baals upon her
When she used to boffer offerings in smoke to them
And cadorn herself with her earrings and jewelry
And go after her lovers, so that she dforgot Me,” declares Yahweh.
Yahweh’s Faithful Betrothal
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her
aAnd bring her into the wilderness
And speak to her heart.
15 Then I will give her her avineyards from there
And bthe valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will csing there as in the days of her youth,
As in the dday when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,
“That you will call Me aIshi
And will no longer call Me Baali.
17 So aI will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth
So that they will be remembered by their names no more.
18 And in that day I will cut a covenant for them
With the abeasts of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the creeping things of the ground.
And I will bbreak the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
And I will make them clie down in security.
19 And I will abetroth you to Me forever;
Indeed, I will betroth you to Me in brighteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will aknow Yahweh.
21 “And it will be in that day, that aI will answer,” declares Yahweh.
“I will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth,
22 And the aearth will answer the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And they will answer Jezreel.
23 And I will asow her for Myself in the land.
bI will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion,
And cI will say to those who were dnot My people,
‘You are My people!’
And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”
Hosea Marries Again
Then Yahweh said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her companion and is an adulteress, even aas Yahweh loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin bcakes.” 2 So I abargained for her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley. 3 Then I said to her, “You shall astay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you.” 4 For the sons of Israel will remain for many days awithout king or prince, bwithout sacrifice or sacred cpillar, and without dephod or ehousehold idols. 5 Afterward the sons of Israel will areturn and seek Yahweh their God and bDavid their king; and cthey will come in dread to Yahweh and to His goodness in the last days.