Hosea’s Wife and Children

The word of the Lord which came to (A)Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of (B)Uzziah, (C)Jotham, (D)Ahaz, and (E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of (F)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “(G)Go, take for yourself a wife [a]inclined to infidelity, and children of infidelity; for (H)the land commits flagrant infidelity, [b]abandoning the Lord.” So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and (I)bore him a son. And the Lord said to him, “Name him (J)Jezreel; for in just a little while (K)I will [c]punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and (L)I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will (M)break the bow of Israel in the (N)Valley of Jezreel.”

Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And [d]the Lord said to him, “Name her [e]Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer (O)take pity on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. But I will take (P)pity on the house of Judah and (Q)save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by (R)bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”

When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. And [f]the Lord said, “Name him [g]Lo-ammi, because you are not My people, and I am not [h]your God.”

10 [i]Yet the number of the sons of Israel
Will be like the (S)sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or counted;
And (T)in the place
Where it is said to them,
“You are (U)not My people,”
It will be said to them,
You are the (V)sons of the living God.”
11 And the (W)sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be (X)gathered together,
And they will appoint for themselves (Y)one leader,
And they will go up from the land,
For the day of Jezreel will be great.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

[j]Say to your brothers, “[k]Ammi,” and to your sisters, “[l]Ruhamah.”

“Dispute with your mother, (Z)dispute,
Because she is (AA)not my wife, and I am not her husband;
But she must remove her (AB)infidelity from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
Otherwise, I will strip her (AC)naked
And expose her as on the (AD)day she was born.
I will also (AE)make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land,
And put her to death with (AF)thirst.
Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are (AG)children of infidelity.
For their mother has (AH)committed prostitution;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘(AI)I will go after my lovers,
Who (AJ)give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my (AK)oil and my drink.’
Therefore, behold, I will (AL)obstruct [m]her way with (AM)thorns,
And I will build [n]a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her (AN)paths.
And she will (AO)pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘(AP)I will go back to my (AQ)first husband,
Because it was (AR)better for me then than now!’

“Yet she does (AS)not know that it was (AT)I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they [o]used for Baal.
Therefore, I will [p](AU)take back My grain at [q]harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
That I gave to cover her nakedness.
10 So now I will (AV)uncover her [r]lewdness
Before the eyes of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11 I will also (AW)put an end to all her joy,
Her (AX)feasts, her (AY)new moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
12 And I will (AZ)destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will (BA)turn them into a forest,
And the (BB)animals of the field will devour them.
13 I will punish her for the (BC)days of the Baals
When she used to [s](BD)offer sacrifices to them
And (BE)adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she (BF)forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

14 “Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
(BG)Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak [t]kindly to her.
15 Then I will give her her (BH)vineyards from there,
And (BI)the [u]Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will [v](BJ)respond there as in the days of her youth,
As in the (BK)day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
16 And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me [w](BL)my husband
And no longer call Me my [x]Baal.
17 For (BM)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will no longer be [y]mentioned by their names.
18 On that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the (BN)animals of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the crawling things of the ground.
And I will [z](BO)eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
And will let them (BP)lie down in safety.
19 I will (BQ)betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in (BR)righteousness and in justice,
In favor and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will (BS)know the Lord.

21 “And it will come about on that day that (BT)I will respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22 And the (BU)earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil,
And they will respond to [aa]Jezreel.
23 I will (BV)sow her for Myself in the land.
(BW)I will also have compassion on [ab]her who had not obtained compassion,
And (BX)I will say to [ac]those who were (BY)not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And [ad]they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

Hosea’s Redemption of Gomer

Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love [ae]a woman who is loved by her [af]husband, yet is committing adultery, (BZ)as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love [ag]raisin (CA)cakes.” So I (CB)purchased her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and a [ah]homer and a [ai]lethech of barley. Then I said to her, “You shall (CC)live with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute, nor shall you have another man; so I will also be toward you.” For the sons of Israel will live for many days (CD)without a king or leader, (CE)without sacrifice or (CF)memorial stone, and without (CG)ephod or [aj](CH)household idols. Afterward the sons of Israel will (CI)return and seek the Lord their God and (CJ)David their king; and (CK)they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 1:2 Lit of infidelity; or fornication
  2. Hosea 1:2 Lit away from
  3. Hosea 1:4 Lit visit the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu
  4. Hosea 1:6 Lit He
  5. Hosea 1:6 I.e., not having obtained mercy
  6. Hosea 1:9 Lit He
  7. Hosea 1:9 I.e., not my people
  8. Hosea 1:9 Lit yours
  9. Hosea 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Heb
  10. Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Heb
  11. Hosea 2:1 I.e., my people
  12. Hosea 2:1 I.e., she has obtained compassion
  13. Hosea 2:6 As in some ancient versions; MT your
  14. Hosea 2:6 Lit her stone wall so that
  15. Hosea 2:8 Or made into the
  16. Hosea 2:9 Lit return and take My
  17. Hosea 2:9 Lit its time
  18. Hosea 2:10 Or shame
  19. Hosea 2:13 Or burn incense
  20. Hosea 2:14 Lit upon her heart
  21. Hosea 2:15 Lit Valley of Trouble
  22. Hosea 2:15 Or give answer
  23. Hosea 2:16 Heb Ishi
  24. Hosea 2:16 Also meaning husband in Heb, besides a name for false gods
  25. Hosea 2:17 Or remembered
  26. Hosea 2:18 Lit break
  27. Hosea 2:22 I.e., God sows
  28. Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ruhamah
  29. Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ammi
  30. Hosea 2:23 Lit he
  31. Hosea 3:1 I.e., Gomer
  32. Hosea 3:1 Lit companion
  33. Hosea 3:1 Used in idolatry
  34. Hosea 3:2 About 7.7 cubic feet or 0.22 cubic meters
  35. Hosea 3:2 About 3.8 cubic feet or 0.11 cubic meters
  36. Hosea 3:4 Heb teraphim

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[a] 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(I) woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness(J) to the Lord.” So he married Gomer(K) daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel,(L) 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.(M)

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

After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah,(S) 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.[b](T)

10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted.(U) In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’(V) 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together;(W) they will appoint one leader(X) and will come up out of the land,(Y) for great will be the day of Jezreel.[c](Z)

[d]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’(AA)

Israel Punished and Restored

“Rebuke your mother,(AB) rebuke her,
    for she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous(AC) look from her face
    and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
Otherwise I will strip(AD) her naked
    and make her as bare as on the day she was born;(AE)
I will make her like a desert,(AF)
    turn her into a parched land,
    and slay her with thirst.
I will not show my love to her children,(AG)
    because they are the children of adultery.(AH)
Their mother has been unfaithful
    and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(AI)
    who give me my food and my water,
    my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(AJ)
Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
    I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.(AK)
She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
    she will look for them but not find them.(AL)
Then she will say,
    ‘I will go back to my husband(AM) as at first,(AN)
    for then I was better off(AO) than now.’
She has not acknowledged(AP) that I was the one
    who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,(AQ)
who lavished on her the silver and gold(AR)
    which they used for Baal.(AS)

“Therefore I will take away my grain(AT) when it ripens,
    and my new wine(AU) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
    intended to cover her naked body.
10 So now I will expose(AV) her lewdness
    before the eyes of her lovers;(AW)
    no one will take her out of my hands.(AX)
11 I will stop(AY) all her celebrations:(AZ)
    her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
    her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.(BA)
12 I will ruin her vines(BB) and her fig trees,(BC)
    which she said were her pay from her lovers;(BD)
I will make them a thicket,(BE)
    and wild animals will devour them.(BF)
13 I will punish her for the days
    she burned incense(BG) to the Baals;(BH)
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,(BI)
    and went after her lovers,(BJ)
    but me she forgot,(BK)
declares the Lord.(BL)

14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
    I will lead her into the wilderness(BM)
    and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
    and will make the Valley of Achor[e](BN) a door of hope.
There she will respond[f](BO) as in the days of her youth,(BP)
    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(BQ)

16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;(BR)
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.[g]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(BS)
    no longer will their names be invoked.(BT)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
    with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
    and the creatures that move along the ground.(BU)
Bow and sword and battle
    I will abolish(BV) from the land,
    so that all may lie down in safety.(BW)
19 I will betroth(BX) you to me forever;
    I will betroth you in[h] righteousness and justice,(BY)
    in[i] love and compassion.(BZ)
20 I will betroth you in[j] faithfulness,
    and you will acknowledge(CA) the Lord.(CB)

21 “In that day I will respond,”
    declares the Lord
“I will respond(CC) to the skies,
    and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
    the new wine and the olive oil,(CD)
    and they will respond to Jezreel.[k](CE)
23 I will plant(CF) her for myself in the land;
    I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[l](CG)
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[m]’ ‘You are my people’;(CH)
    and they will say, ‘You are my God.(CI)’”

Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife

The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.(CJ) Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.(CK)

So I bought her for fifteen shekels[n] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[o] of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”

For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince,(CL) without sacrifice(CM) or sacred stones,(CN) without ephod(CO) or household gods.(CP) Afterward the Israelites will return and seek(CQ) the Lord their God and David their king.(CR) They will come trembling(CS) to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.(CT)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash
  2. Hosea 1:9 Or your I am
  3. Hosea 1:11 In Hebrew texts 1:10,11 is numbered 2:1,2.
  4. Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.
  5. Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
  6. Hosea 2:15 Or sing
  7. Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
  8. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  9. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  10. Hosea 2:20 Or with
  11. Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
  12. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
  13. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)
  14. Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
  15. Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.

The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.

And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.

And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.

But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.

Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.

For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.

10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord.

14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

16 And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.

So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:

And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.