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The word of the Lord that came to Hose′a the son of Be-e′ri, in the days of Uzzi′ah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezeki′ah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jerobo′am the son of Jo′ash, king of Israel.
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The Family of Hosea
When the Lord first spoke through Hose′a, the Lord said to Hose′a, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry, for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord.”
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And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
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She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name Not pitied, for I will no more have pity on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.
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But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by bow, nor by sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen.”
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And the Lord said, “Call his name Not my people, for you are not my people and I am not your God.”
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And I will punish her for the feast days of the Ba′als when she burned incense to them and decked herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the Lord.
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“And in that day, says the Lord, you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no longer will you call me, ‘My Ba′al.’
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I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.
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“And in that day, says the Lord, I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth;
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Further Assurances of God’s Redeeming Love
And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is beloved of a paramour and is an adulteress; even as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
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Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
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God Accuses Israel
Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel; for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land;
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They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the harlot, but not multiply; because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish harlotry.
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Though you play the harlot, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-a′ven, and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
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Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?
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Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of harlotry is within them, and they know not the Lord.
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With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.
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They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.
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A Call to Repentance
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up.
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Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”
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The pride of Israel witnesses against him; yet they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him, for all this.
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Israel’s Apostasy
Set the trumpet to your lips, for a vulture is over the house of the Lord, because they have broken my covenant, and transgressed my law.
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They love sacrifice; they sacrifice flesh and eat it; but the Lord has no delight in them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.
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They shall not remain in the land of the Lord; but E′phraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
