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

Hosea's Wife and Children

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, (C)“Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have (D)children of whoredom, for (E)the land commits great whoredom by forsaking 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, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while (F)I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and (G)I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day (H)I will break the bow of Israel (I)in the Valley of Jezreel.”

She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, (J)“Call her name No Mercy,[a] for (K)I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But (L)I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I (M)will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, (N)“Call his name Not My People,[b] for (O)you are not my people, and I am not your God.”[c]

10 [d] Yet (P)the number of the children of Israel shall be (Q)like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. (R)And (S)in the place where it was said to them, (T)“You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, (U)“Children[e] of (V)the living God.” 11 And (W)the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and (X)they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished

[f] Say to your brothers, (Y)“You are my people,”[g] and to your sisters, (Z)“You have received mercy.”[h]

“Plead with your mother, plead—
    for (AA)she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband—
that she put away (AB)her whoring from her face,
    and her adultery from between her breasts;
lest (AC)I strip her naked
    and make her as (AD)in the day she was born,
and (AE)make her like a wilderness,
    and make her like a parched land,
    and kill her with thirst.
(AF)Upon her children also I will have no mercy,
    (AG)because they are children of whoredom.
For (AH)their mother has played the whore;
    she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For (AI)she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
    who (AJ)give me my bread and my water,
    my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
Therefore (AK)I will hedge up her[i] way with thorns,
    and (AL)I will build a wall against her,
    so that she cannot find her paths.
She shall pursue her lovers
    but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
    but shall not find them.
(AM)Then she shall say,
    ‘I will go and return to (AN)my first husband,
    (AO)for it was better for me then than now.’
And (AP)she did not know
    that it was (AQ)I who gave her
    (AR)the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on (AS)her silver and gold,
    (AT)which they used for Baal.
Therefore (AU)I will take back
    my grain in its time,
    and my wine in its season,
and (AV)I will take away my wool and my flax,
    which were to cover her nakedness.
10 Now (AW)I will uncover her lewdness
    in the sight of her lovers,
    and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
11 (AX)And I will put an end to all her mirth,
    her feasts, her (AY)new moons, her (AZ)Sabbaths,
    and all her (BA)appointed feasts.
12 And (BB)I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
    (BC)of which she said,
‘These are (BD)my wages,
    which my lovers have given me.’
I will make them a forest,
    (BE)and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
13 And (BF)I will punish her for (BG)the feast days of the Baals
    when she burned offerings to them
and (BH)adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,
    and went after her lovers
    and forgot me, declares the Lord.

The Lord's Mercy on Israel

14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
    and (BI)bring her into the wilderness,
    and (BJ)speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards
    and make the Valley of Achor[j] a door of hope.
And there she shall answer (BK)as in the days of her youth,
    as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

16 “And (BL)in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For (BM)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And (BN)I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And (BO)I will abolish[k] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in (BP)safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me (BQ)forever. (BR)I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 (BS)I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And (BT)you shall know the Lord.

21 “And (BU)in that day (BV)I will answer, declares the Lord,
    I will answer the heavens,
    and they shall answer the earth,
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and they shall answer (BW)Jezreel,[l]
23     and (BX)I will sow her for myself in the land.
And (BY)I (BZ)will have mercy on No Mercy,[m]
    and (CA)I will say to Not My People,[n] (CB)‘You are my people’;
    and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 1:6 Hebrew Lo-ruhama, which means she has not received mercy
  2. Hosea 1:9 Hebrew Lo-ammi, which means not my people
  3. Hosea 1:9 Hebrew I am not yours
  4. Hosea 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
  5. Hosea 1:10 Or Sons
  6. Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Hebrew
  7. Hosea 2:1 Hebrew ammi, which means my people
  8. Hosea 2:1 Hebrew ruhama, which means she has received mercy
  9. Hosea 2:6 Hebrew your
  10. Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble; compare Joshua 7:26
  11. Hosea 2:18 Hebrew break
  12. Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God will sow
  13. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ruhama
  14. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ammi

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since (A)the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and (B)every transgression or disobedience received a just (C)retribution, (D)how shall we escape if we (E)neglect such a great salvation? It was (F)declared at first by the Lord, and it was (G)attested to us (H)by those who heard, (I)while God also bore witness (J)by signs and wonders and various miracles and by (K)gifts of the Holy Spirit (L)distributed according to his will.

The Founder of Salvation

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world (M)to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,

(N)“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
    or the son of man, that you care for him?
You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
    you have crowned him with glory and honor,[a]
    putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, (O)we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him (P)who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, (Q)crowned with glory and honor (R)because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might (S)taste death (T)for everyone.

10 For it (U)was fitting that he, (V)for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons (W)to glory, should make the (X)founder of their salvation (Y)perfect through suffering. 11 For (Z)he who sanctifies and (AA)those who are sanctified (AB)all have one source.[b] That is why he is not ashamed to call them (AC)brothers,[c] 12 saying,

(AD)“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the (AE)congregation I will sing your praise.”

13 And again,

(AF)“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

(AG)“Behold, I and the children (AH)God has given me.”

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise (AI)partook of the same things, that (AJ)through death he might (AK)destroy (AL)the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who (AM)through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he (AN)helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had (AO)to be made like his brothers in every respect, (AP)so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest (AQ)in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered (AR)when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 2:7 Some manuscripts insert and set him over the works of your hands
  2. Hebrews 2:11 Greek all are of one
  3. Hebrews 2:11 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 12

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