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When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take for yourself a [a]wife of prostitution and have children of [her] prostitution; for the land commits great acts of prostitution by [b]not following the Lord.” So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet in a little while I will avenge the blood [that was shed in the Valley] of Jezreel and inflict the punishment for it on the house of [c]Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the [d]house of Israel.(A) On that day I will break the bow [of the military power] of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

Then Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-Ruhamah (not shown mercy), for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah and will rescue them by the Lord their God, and will [e]not rescue them by bow, sword, war, horses, or horsemen.”(B)

Now when Gomer had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-Ammi (not my people), for you are not My people and I am not your God.”

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 1:2 Some scholars interpret this to mean that Gomer was chaste at the time of the marriage, but later became an adulteress. As such, she symbolizes the future unfaithfulness of Israel.
  2. Hosea 1:2 Lit forsaking.
  3. Hosea 1:4 Jehu murdered Ahab’s sons in order to seize the throne of Israel.
  4. Hosea 1:4 I.e. Israel, the Northern Kingdom, which included ten of the original tribes of Israel. Samaria was the capital city.
  5. Hosea 1:7 Isaiah also made this prophecy (Is 31:8, 9) and both he and Hosea lived to see its fulfillment (Is 37:36). See also 2 Kin 19:35-37.

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