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.(A) Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.(B)

So I bought her for fifteen shekels[a] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[b] 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,(C) without sacrifice(D) or sacred stones,(E) without ephod(F) or household gods.(G) Afterward the Israelites will return and seek(H) the Lord their God and David their king.(I) They will come trembling(J) to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
  2. Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.

Waiting for Restoration

Then the Lord said to me, “Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress,(A) just as the Lord loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”(B)

So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and five bushels of barley.[a][b](C) I said to her, “You must live with me many days. Don’t be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.”

For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince,(D) without sacrifice(E) or sacred pillar,(F) and without ephod(G) or household idols.(H) Afterward, the people of Israel will return(I) and seek the Lord their God and David their king.(J) They will come with awe to the Lord(K) and to His goodness in the last days.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 3:2 LXX reads barley and a measure of wine
  2. Hosea 3:2 Lit silver, a homer of barley, and a lethek of barley