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Jeremiah 3:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jeremiah 3:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Unfaithful Israel
3 If[a] a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
Would not such a land be greatly polluted?
You have prostituted yourself with many lovers,
and would you return to me?
says the Lord.(A)
Footnotes
- 3.1 Gk Syr: Heb Saying, If
Jeremiah 3:1
New International Version
Jeremiah 3:1
New International Version
Deuteronomy 24:1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Deuteronomy 24:1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Laws concerning Marriage and Divorce
24 “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; 2 she then leaves his house and goes off to become another man’s wife.(A) 3 Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies): 4 her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled, for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.(B)
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Deuteronomy 24:1-4
New International Version
Deuteronomy 24:1-4
New International Version
24 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him(A) because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce,(B) gives it to her and sends her from his house, 2 and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord(C) your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Ezekiel 16:26
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Ezekiel 16:26
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
26 You prostituted yourself with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors,[a] multiplying your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.(A)
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- 16.26 Heb large-membered neighbors
Ezekiel 16:26
New International Version
Ezekiel 16:26
New International Version
26 You engaged in prostitution(A) with the Egyptians,(B) your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger(C) with your increasing promiscuity.(D)
Hosea 14:1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Hosea 14:1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
A Plea for Repentance
14 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.(A)
2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer
the fruit[a] of our lips.(B)
3 Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride upon horses;
we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.”(C)
Assurance of Forgiveness
4 I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.(D)
Footnotes
- 14.2 Gk Syr: Heb bulls
Hosea 14:1-4
New International Version
Hosea 14:1-4
New International Version
Repentance to Bring Blessing
14 [a]Return,(A) Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins(B) have been your downfall!(C)
2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
“Forgive(D) all our sins
and receive us graciously,(E)
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[b](F)
3 Assyria cannot save us;(G)
we will not mount warhorses.(H)
We will never again say ‘Our gods’(I)
to what our own hands have made,(J)
for in you the fatherless(K) find compassion.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 14:1 In Hebrew texts 14:1-9 is numbered 14:2-10.
- Hosea 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls
Hosea 2:5-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Hosea 2:5-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 For their mother has prostituted herself;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will go after my lovers;
they give me my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.”(A)
6 Therefore I will hedge up her[a] way with thorns,
and I will build a wall against her
so that she cannot find her paths.(B)
7 She shall pursue her lovers
but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
but shall not find them.
Then she shall say, “I will go
and return to my first husband,
for it was better with me then than now.”(C)
Footnotes
- 2.6 Gk Syr: Heb your
Hosea 2:5-7
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Hosea 2:5-7
New International Version
5 Their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(A)
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(B)
6 Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.(C)
7 She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.(D)
Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husband(E) as at first,(F)
for then I was better off(G) than now.’
Ezekiel 23:4-49
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Ezekiel 23:4-49
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.(A)
5 Oholah prostituted herself while she was mine; she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors[a](B) 6 clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, mounted horsemen. 7 She bestowed her sexual favors upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone for whom she lusted.(C) 8 She did not give up her prostitutions that she had practiced since Egypt, for in her youth men had lain with her and fondled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her.(D) 9 Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, for whom she lusted.(E) 10 These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. Judgment was executed upon her, and she became a byword among women.(F)
11 Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt than she in her lusting and in her prostitutions, which were worse than those of her sister.(G) 12 She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors[b] clothed in full armor, mounted horsemen, all of them handsome young men.(H) 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. 14 But she carried her prostitutions further; she saw male figures carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,(I) 15 with belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers—a picture of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. 16 When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lust, and after she defiled herself with them, she turned from them in disgust. 18 When she carried on her prostitutions so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned from her sister.(J) 19 Yet she increased her prostitutions, remembering the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt 20 and lusted after her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions.(K) 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians[c] fondled your bosom and caressed[d] your young breasts.(L)
22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: I will rouse against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:(M) 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and select leaders, all of them riding on horses.(N) 24 They shall come against you from the north[e] with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples; they shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet, and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their ordinances.(O) 25 I will direct my indignation against you, in order that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your fine jewels.(P) 27 So I will put an end to your lewdness and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt; you shall not long for them or remember Egypt any more.(Q) 28 For thus says the Lord God: I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your prostitutions shall be exposed. Your lewdness and your prostitutions(R) 30 have brought this upon you, because you prostituted yourself with the nations and polluted yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. 32 Thus says the Lord God:
You shall drink your sister’s cup,
deep and wide;
it will bring scorn and derision;
it holds so much.(S)
33 You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow.
A cup of horror and desolation
is the cup of your sister Samaria;
34 you shall drink it and drain it out
and gnaw its sherds
and tear out your breasts,
for I have spoken, says the Lord God.(T) 35 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, therefore bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitutions.(U)
36 The Lord said to me: Mortal, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds.(V) 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; with their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me.(W) 38 Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. 39 For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. This is what they did in my house.(X)
40 They even sent for men to come from far away, to whom a messenger was sent, and they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments;(Y) 41 you sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil.(Z) 42 The sound of a raucous multitude was around her, with many of the rabble brought in drunken from the wilderness, and they put bracelets on the arms of the women and beautiful crowns upon their heads.(AA)
43 Then I said, “Ah, she is worn out with adulteries, but they carry on their sexual acts with her.” 44 They have[f] gone in to her as one goes in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, wanton women. 45 But righteous judges shall declare them guilty of adultery and of bloodshed, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.(AB)
46 For thus says the Lord God: Bring up an assembly against them, and make them an object of terror and of plunder. 47 The assembly shall stone them, and with their swords they shall cut them down; they shall kill their sons and their daughters and burn up their houses.(AC) 48 Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, so that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done.(AD) 49 They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.
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Ezekiel 23:4-49
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Ezekiel 23:4-49
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4 The older was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.(A)
5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians(B)—warriors(C) 6 clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted horsemen. 7 She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after.(D) 8 She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt,(E) when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.(F)
9 “Therefore I delivered her into the hands(G) of her lovers,(H) the Assyrians, for whom she lusted.(I) 10 They stripped(J) her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women,(K) and punishment was inflicted(L) on her.(M)
11 “Her sister Oholibah saw this,(N) yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister.(O) 12 She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men.(P) 13 I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way.(Q)
14 “But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall,(R) figures of Chaldeans[a] portrayed in red,(S) 15 with belts(T) around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of Chaldea.[b] 16 As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers(U) to them in Chaldea.(V) 17 Then the Babylonians(W) came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.(X) 18 When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her naked body,(Y) I turned away(Z) from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.(AA) 19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. 21 So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.[c](AB)
22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up your lovers(AC) against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side(AD)— 23 the Babylonians(AE) and all the Chaldeans,(AF) the men of Pekod(AG) and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses.(AH) 24 They will come against you with weapons,[d] chariots and wagons(AI) and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment,(AJ) and they will punish you according to their standards. 25 I will direct my jealous anger(AK) against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters,(AL) and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire.(AM) 26 They will also strip(AN) you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry.(AO) 27 So I will put a stop(AP) to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.
28 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to deliver you into the hands(AQ) of those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. 29 They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave you stark naked,(AR) and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed.(AS) Your lewdness(AT) and promiscuity(AU) 30 have brought this on you, because you lusted after the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.(AV) 31 You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cup(AW) into your hand.(AX)
32 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“You will drink your sister’s cup,
a cup large and deep;
it will bring scorn and derision,(AY)
for it holds so much.(AZ)
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
the cup of ruin and desolation,
the cup of your sister Samaria.(BA)
34 You will drink it(BB) and drain it dry
and chew on its pieces—
and you will tear your breasts.
I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.(BC)
35 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten(BD) me and turned your back on me,(BE) you must bear(BF) the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.”
36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then confront(BG) them with their detestable practices,(BH) 37 for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them.(BI) 38 They have also done this to me: At that same time they defiled my sanctuary(BJ) and desecrated my Sabbaths.(BK) 39 On the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and desecrated(BL) it. That is what they did in my house.(BM)
40 “They even sent messengers for men who came from far away,(BN) and when they arrived you bathed yourself for them, applied eye makeup(BO) and put on your jewelry.(BP) 41 You sat on an elegant couch,(BQ) with a table(BR) spread before it on which you had placed the incense(BS) and olive oil that belonged to me.(BT)
42 “The noise of a carefree(BU) crowd was around her; drunkards(BV) were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets(BW) on the wrists of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads.(BX) 43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute,(BY) for that is all she is.’ 44 And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah. 45 But righteous judges will sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood,(BZ) because they are adulterous and blood is on their hands.(CA)
46 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring a mob(CB) against them and give them over to terror and plunder.(CC) 47 The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters(CD) and burn(CE) down their houses.(CF)
48 “So I will put an end(CG) to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate you.(CH) 49 You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry.(CI) Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.(CJ)”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 23:14 Or Babylonians
- Ezekiel 23:15 Or Babylonia; also in verse 16
- Ezekiel 23:21 Syriac (see also verse 3); Hebrew caressed because of your young breasts
- Ezekiel 23:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Ezekiel 16:28-29
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Ezekiel 16:28-29
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
28 You prostituted yourself with the Assyrians because you were insatiable; you prostituted yourself with them, and still you were not satisfied.(A) 29 You multiplied your prostitution with Chaldea, the land of merchants, and even with this you were not satisfied.(B)
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Ezekiel 16:28-29
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Ezekiel 16:28-29
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28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians(A) too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied.(B) 29 Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia,[a](C) a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.(D)
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 16:29 Or Chaldea
Jeremiah 4:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jeremiah 4:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 If you return, O Israel,
says the Lord,
if you return to me,
if you remove your abominations from my presence
and do not waver,(A)
Jeremiah 4:1
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Jeremiah 4:1
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Jeremiah 2:20
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Jeremiah 2:20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
20 For long ago you broke your yoke
and burst your bonds,
and you said, “I will not serve!”
On every high hill
and under every green tree
you sprawled and prostituted yourself.(A)
Deuteronomy 4:29-31
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Deuteronomy 4:29-31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
29 From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul.(A) 30 In your distress, when all these things have happened to you in time to come, you will return to the Lord your God and heed him. 31 Because the Lord your God is a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them.(B)
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Deuteronomy 4:29-31
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Deuteronomy 4:29-31
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29 But if from there you seek(A) the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart(B) and with all your soul.(C) 30 When you are in distress(D) and all these things have happened to you, then in later days(E) you will return(F) to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful(G) God; he will not abandon(H) or destroy(I) you or forget(J) the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.
Luke 15:16-24
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Luke 15:16-24
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
16 He would gladly have filled his stomach[a] with the pods that the pigs were eating, and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.(A) 21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’[b](B) 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.(C) 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.(D)
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Luke 15:16-24
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Luke 15:16-24
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16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned(A) against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.(B)
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.(C) I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe(D) and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger(E) and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again;(F) he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.(G)
Zechariah 1:3
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Zechariah 1:3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.(A)
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Zechariah 1:3
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Zechariah 1:3
New International Version
3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return(A) to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’(B) says the Lord Almighty.
Hosea 1:2
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Hosea 1:2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Family of Hosea
2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and have children of prostitution, for the land commits great prostitution by forsaking the Lord.”(A)
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Hosea 1:2
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Hosea 1:2
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Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous(A) woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness(B) to the Lord.”
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