3 A saying:

The Lord Offers to Forgive the Ten Tribes of Israel Despite Their Idolatry

⁶ When Josiah was king, Yahweh asked me, “Did you see what unfaithful Israel did? She went up every high mountain and under every large tree, and she acted like a prostitute there. ⁷ I thought that after she had done all this that she would come back to me. But she didn’t come back, and her treacherous sister Judah saw her. ⁸ Judah saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away because of her adultery and that I gave Israel her divorce papers. But treacherous Judah, her sister, wasn’t afraid. She also acted like a prostitute. ⁹ Because she wasn’t concerned about acting like a prostitute, she polluted the land and committed adultery with standing stones and wood pillars. ¹⁰ Even after all this, Israel’s treacherous sister Judah didn’t wholeheartedly come back to me. She was deceitful,” declares Yahweh.

¹¹ Then Yahweh said to me, “Unfaithful Israel was less guilty than treacherous Judah. ¹² Go and proclaim these things to the north:

¹⁴ “Come back, you rebellious people,” declares Yahweh. “I’m your husband. I will take you, one from every city and two from every family, and bring you to Zion. ¹⁵ I will give you shepherds after my own heart. They will be shepherds who feed you with knowledge and insight. ¹⁶ In those days you will be fertile, and your population will increase in the land,” declares Yahweh. “People will no longer talk about the ark of Yahweh’s promise. It will no longer come to mind. They won’t remember it, miss it, or make another one. ¹⁷ At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Yahweh. All nations will gather in Jerusalem because the name of Yahweh will be found there. They will no longer follow their own stubborn, evil ways. ¹⁸ In those days the nation of Judah will live with the nation of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave their ancestors as their own property.

A Description of Jerusalem’s Sins

16 Yahweh spoke his word to me. He said, ² “Son of man, make known to the people of Jerusalem the disgusting things they have done. ³ Tell them, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says to the people of Jerusalem: Your birthplace and your ancestors were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. ⁴ When you were born, your umbilical cord wasn’t cut. You weren’t washed with water to make you clean. You weren’t rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloth. ⁵ No one who saw you felt sorry enough for you to do any of these things. But you were thrown into an open field. You were rejected when you were born.

⁶ “‘Then I went by you and saw you kicking around in your own blood. I said to you, “Live.” ⁷ I made you grow like a plant in the field. You grew up, matured, and became a young woman. Your breasts developed, and your hair grew. Yet, you were naked and bare.

⁸ “‘I went by you again and looked at you. You were old enough to make love to. So I spread my robe over you, and covered your naked body. I promised to love you, and I exchanged marriage vows with you. You became mine, declares Adonay Yahweh.

⁹ “‘Then I bathed you with water, and I washed off your blood. I poured olive oil over you. ¹⁰ I put an embroidered dress on you and fine leather sandals on your feet. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹ I gave you jewelry. I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. ¹² I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ So you wore gold and silver jewelry. You were dressed in fine linen, silk, and embroidered clothes. Your food was flour, honey, and olive oil. You were very beautiful, and eventually you became a queen. ¹⁴ You became famous in every nation because of your beauty. Your beauty was perfect because I gave you my glory, declares Adonay Yahweh.

¹⁵ “‘But you trusted your beauty, and you used your fame to become a prostitute. You had sex with everyone who walked by. ¹⁶ You took some of your clothes and made your worship sites colorful. This is where you acted like a prostitute. Such things shouldn’t happen. They shouldn’t occur. ¹⁷ You took your beautiful gold and silver jewelry that I had given you and made male idols for yourself. Then you committed adultery with them. ¹⁸ You took off your embroidered clothes and covered the idols with them. You offered my olive oil and incense in their presence. ¹⁹ You also offered them sweet and fragrant sacrifices. You gave flour, olive oil, and honey—all the food that I gave you to eat. This is what happened, declares Adonay Yahweh.

²⁰ “‘You took your sons and daughters, who belonged to me, and you sacrificed them as food to idols. Wasn’t your prostitution enough? ²¹ You slaughtered my children and presented them as burnt offerings to idols. ²² With all the disgusting things that you did and all your acts of prostitution, you didn’t remember the time when you were young. You didn’t remember when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your own blood.

²³ “‘How horrible! How horrible it will be for you! declares Adonay Yahweh. After all your wickedness, ²⁴ you built yourself platforms and illegal worship sites in every city square. ²⁵ You also built worship sites at the head of every street. You used your beauty to seduce people there. You offered your body to everyone who passed by. You increased your acts of prostitution. ²⁶ You had sex with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians. You used your prostitution to make me angry.

²⁷ “‘So I used my power against you. I took away some of your land, and I handed you over to your greedy enemies, the Philistines, who were ashamed of what you had done.

²⁸ “‘You had sex with the Assyrians because you weren’t satisfied. You still weren’t satisfied. ²⁹ So you increased your acts of prostitution to include the land of the merchants, the Babylonians. Even after that, you weren’t satisfied.

³⁰ “‘You have no will power! declares Adonay Yahweh. You do everything a shameless prostitute does. ³¹ You build your platforms at the head of every street and place your illegal worship sites in every square. Yet, you aren’t like other prostitutes, because you don’t want to be paid. ³² You are an adulterous wife who prefers strangers to her husband. ³³ All prostitutes get paid. But you give gifts to all your lovers and bribe them to come to you from all directions to have sex with you. ³⁴ You are a different kind of prostitute. No one goes after you for favors. You are the opposite. You pay them, and you don’t accept payment.

Jerusalem’s Punishment

³⁵ “‘Listen to the word of Yahweh, you prostitute. ³⁶ This is what Adonay Yahweh says: You exposed yourself and uncovered your naked body when you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols. You also killed your children and sacrificed their blood to these idols. ³⁷ That is why I will gather all your lovers with whom you found pleasure. I will have all those who love you and hate you gather around. I will uncover your body for them, and they will see you naked. ³⁸ I will punish you the same way that those who are guilty of prostitution and murder are punished. I will give you the death penalty in my fury and burning anger. ³⁹ I will hand you over to your lovers. They will destroy your platforms and tear down your illegal worship sites. They will tear off your clothes, take away your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare. ⁴⁰ They will also bring a mob against you. They will stone you and cut you into pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ They will burn your houses and punish you in the presence of many women. I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay others. ⁴² Then I will rest from my fury against you, and I will stop being angry. I will be at peace. I will no longer be angry.

⁴³ “‘You didn’t remember the time when you were young, and you made me very angry with all these things. So I will pay you back for what you have done, declares Adonay Yahweh. Didn’t you make wicked plans in addition to all your disgusting practices?

⁴⁴ “‘Everyone who uses proverbs will speak the following saying against you: Like mother, like daughter. ⁴⁵ You are your mother’s daughter. She rejected her husband and her children. You are exactly like your sisters. They rejected their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite.

⁴⁶ “‘Your older sister was Samaria. She and her daughters lived north of you. Your younger sister is Sodom. She lives south of you with her daughters. ⁴⁷ You didn’t follow their ways. You didn’t do the same disgusting things that they did. It only took you a little time to be more corrupt than they ever were. ⁴⁸ As I live, declares Adonay Yahweh, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹ This is what your sister Sodom has done wrong. She and her daughters were proud that they had plenty of food and had peace and security. They didn’t help the poor and the needy. ⁵⁰ They were arrogant and did disgusting things in front of me. So I did away with them when I saw this.

⁵¹ “‘Samaria didn’t commit half the sins you did. You have done many more disgusting things than they ever did. Because of all the disgusting things that you have done, you make your sisters look innocent. ⁵² You will have to suffer disgrace because you accused your sisters. Yet, your sins are more disgusting than theirs. They look like they are innocent compared to you. Be ashamed of yourself and suffer disgrace, because you have made your sisters look like they are innocent.

⁵³ “‘I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and Samaria and her daughters. I will also restore your fortune along with theirs. ⁵⁴ You will have to suffer disgrace and be ashamed of everything you have done, including comforting them. ⁵⁵ When Sodom and her daughters and Samaria and her daughters return to what they once were, you and your daughters will return to what you once were. ⁵⁶ You didn’t mention your sister Sodom when you were arrogant. ⁵⁷ You didn’t mention her before your wickedness was revealed. Now the daughters of Aram^[a] and their neighbors despise you. The daughters of the Philistines also despise you. Those around you hate you. ⁵⁸ You must suffer because of all the crude and disgusting things you have done, declares Yahweh.

⁵⁹ “‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: I will give you what you deserve. You despised your marriage vows and rejected my promise.^{[b] 60} I will remember the promise that I made with you when you were young, and I will make it a promise that will last forever. ⁶¹ Then you will remember what you have done. You will be ashamed when I return your older and younger sisters to you. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of my promise with you. ⁶² Then I will make my promise with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh. ⁶³ You will remember and be ashamed. You will never again open your mouth because of your disgrace when I forgive you for everything you did, declares Adonay Yahweh.’”

Israel Is the Lord’s Unfaithful Wife

The Lord Continues to Love Israel

Hosea’s Adulterous Wife

3 Then Yahweh told me, “Love your wife again, even though she is loved by others and has committed adultery. Love her as I, Yahweh, love the Israelites, even though they have turned to other gods and love to eat raisin cakes.”

² So I bought her for 23 ounces of silver and 10 bushels of barley. ³ Then I told her, “You must wait for me a long time. Don’t be a prostitute or offer yourself to any man. I will wait for you.”

⁴ In the same way, the Israelites will wait a long time without kings or officials, without sacrifices or sacred stones, and without ephods^[a] or family idols. ⁵ After that, the Israelites will turn and look to Yahweh their Elohim and David their king. They will come trembling to Yahweh for his blessings in the last days.