Hosea 1
New King James Version
Hosea’s Unfaithful Wife
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of (A)Uzziah, (B)Jotham, (C)Ahaz, and (D)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of (E)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
The Family of Hosea
2 When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea:
(F)“Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry
And children of harlotry,
For (G)the land has committed great [a]harlotry
By departing from the Lord.”
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said to him:
“Call his name Jezreel,
For in a little while
(H)I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu,
(I)And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 (J)It shall come to pass in that day
That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him:
“Call her name [b]Lo-Ruhamah,
(K)For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel,
[c]But I will utterly take them away.
7 (L)Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah,
Will save them by the Lord their God,
And (M)will not save them by bow,
Nor by sword or battle,
By horses or horsemen.”
8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then God said:
“Call his name [d]Lo-Ammi,
For you are not My people,
And I will not be your God.
The Restoration of Israel
10 “Yet (N)the number of the children of Israel
Shall be as the sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or numbered.
(O)And it shall come to pass
In the place where it was said to them,
‘You are [e]not My (P)people,’
There it shall be said to them,
‘You are (Q)sons of the living God.’
11 (R)Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel
Shall be gathered together,
And appoint for themselves one head;
And they shall come up out of the land,
For great will be the day of Jezreel!
Hosea 1
Expanded Bible
1 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord that was] to Hosea son of Beeri ·during the time [L in the days] that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel [C Hosea prophesied about 760–722 bc].
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the Lord began speaking through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, and ·marry [L take for yourself] an ·unfaithful woman [or prostitute; L woman/wife of prostitution/harlotries] and have ·unfaithful children [L children of prostitution/harlotries], because ·the people in this country [L this land] have ·been completely unfaithful to [practiced prostitution/harlotry against] the Lord [C they have been spiritually unfaithful; C Gomer may have been a prostitute or promiscuous woman before the marriage, or only afterward].” 3 So Hosea ·married [L went and took] Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she ·became pregnant [conceived] and gave birth to Hosea’s son.
4 The Lord said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel [C Hebrew: “God sows”], because soon I will punish the ·family [L house] of Jehu for the ·people they killed at [L blood of] Jezreel [C Jehu slaughtered the family of king Ahab; 2 Kin. 9:7—10:28]. In ·the future [L that day] I will put an end to the kingdom of [L the house of] Israel 5 and break the ·power of Israel’s army [L bow of Israel] in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 Gomer ·became pregnant [conceived] again and gave birth to a daughter. The Lord said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-Ruhamah [C Hebrew: “no pity/mercy” or “not loved”], because I will not ·pity [have mercy on; show love to] Israel anymore, nor will I forgive them. 7 But I will show ·pity [mercy; love] to the people of Judah. I will save them, but not by using bows or swords, horses or horsemen, or ·weapons of war [or battle; war]. I, the Lord their God, will save them.”
8 After Gomer had stopped nursing Lo-Ruhamah, she ·became pregnant [conceived] again and gave birth to another son. 9 The Lord said, “Name him Lo-Ammi [C “not my people”], because you are not my people, and I am not your God.
God’s Promise to Israel
10 “But the number of the Israelites will become like the grains of sand of the sea, which no one can measure or count [Gen. 22:17; 32:12]. ·They were called [or Although it was said to them; or In the place where it was said to them], ‘You are not my people,’ but later ·they will be called [it will be said to them] ‘children of the living God.’ 11 The people of Judah and Israel will ·join [come; be gathered] together again and will ·choose [appoint] one leader for themselves. They will come up from the land, because the day of Jezreel [C “God plants/sows,” alluding here to the rebirth of the once desolate nation; see vv. 4–5; 2:22–23] will be truly great.
Hosea 1
Evangelical Heritage Version
Hosea’s Wife and Children
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Be’eri,[a] in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, the king of Israel.
2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go. Take for yourself an immoral wife and children produced by sexual immorality,[b] because the land has been committing flagrant immorality, turning away from the Lord.”
3 So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim. She conceived and gave birth to a son for him.
4 The Lord said to him, “Name him Jezre’el,[c] because in a little while I will inflict punishment on the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezre’el. I will destroy the ruling power of the house of Israel. 5 In that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezre’el.”
6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter.
The Lord said to him, “Name her Lo Ruhamah,[d] because I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel. Indeed, I will certainly not forgive them. 7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah. I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”[e]
8 Gomer weaned Lo Ruhamah. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son.
9 The Lord said, “Name him Lo Ammi,[f] because you are not my people, and I will not be the Lord for you.”[g]
A Promise of Future Blessing
10 Nevertheless, the number of the people of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. Then, in the place where they were told, “You are not my people,” they will be told, “You are children of the living God.” 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint one head for themselves, and they will go up from the land, for the day of Jezre’el will be great.[h]
Footnotes
- Hosea 1:1 The stop mark ′ indicates that Be’er - should be pronounced as two syllables.
- Hosea 1:2 Or prostitution. The Hebrew term includes paid prostitution, but it also includes promiscuous sexual immorality which is not done for money. It also includes sexual misconduct by perpetrators who pay their lovers instead of the other way around.
- Hosea 1:4 Jezre’el means God sows, and it is the name of both a valley and a city in Israel. Ahab and Jezebel murdered Naboth at the city of Jezre’e l, and Jehu destroyed the dynasty of Ahab there.
- Hosea 1:6 The Hebrew name Lo Ruhamah means no compassion or no pity.
- Hosea 1:7 Or charioteers
- Hosea 1:9 The Hebrew name Lo Ammi means not my people.
- Hosea 1:9 The Hebrew reads I am not I am for you, an allusion to the Lord’s gracious name, I am.
- Hosea 1:11 English verses 1:10-11 are verses 2:1-2 in the Hebrew text. All the subsequent verse numbers in chapter 2 are two numbers lower in English than they are in Hebrew.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.