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Superscription
1 [a] This is the Lord’s message that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the time of[b] Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the time of Jeroboam son of Joash,[c] king of Israel.
Symbols of Sin and Judgment: The Prostitute and Her Children
2 When the Lord first spoke[d] through[e] Hosea, he[f] said to him,[g] “Go marry[h] a prostitute[i] who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution,[j] because the nation[k] continually commits spiritual prostitution[l] by turning away from[m] the Lord.” 3 So Hosea married[n] Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son for him. 4 Then the Lord said to Hosea,[o] “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because in a little while I will punish the dynasty[p] of Jehu on account of the bloodshed[q] in the valley of Jezreel,[r] and I will put an end to the kingdom[s] of Israel.[t] 5 At that time,[u] I will destroy the military power[v] of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”
6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord[w] said to him, “Name her ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) because I will no longer have pity[x] on the nation[y] of Israel. For[z] I will certainly not forgive[aa] their guilt.[ab] 7 But I will have pity on the nation[ac] of Judah.[ad] I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory,[ae] by chariot horses, or by chariots.”[af]
8 When[ag] she had weaned “No Pity” (Lo-Ruhamah), she conceived again and gave birth to another son. 9 Then the Lord[ah] said: “Name him ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), because you[ai] are not my people and I am not your[aj] God.”[ak]
The Restoration of Israel
10 (2:1)[al] However,[am] in the future the number of the people[an] of Israel will be like the sand of the sea that can be neither measured nor numbered. Although[ao] it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it will be said to them, “You are[ap] children[aq] of the living God!” 11 Then the people[ar] of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader,[as] and will flourish in the land.[at] Certainly,[au] the day of Jezreel will be great!
2 Then you will call[av] your[aw] brother, “My People” (Ammi)! You will call your sister, “Pity” (Ruhamah)!
Idolatrous Israel Will Be Punished Like a Prostitute
2 “Plead earnestly[ax] with your[ay] mother
(for[az] she is not my wife, and I am not her husband),
so that[ba] she might put an end to her adulterous lifestyle,[bb]
and turn away from her sexually immoral behavior.[bc]
3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked,
and expose her like she was when she was born.
I will turn her land into a wilderness
and make her country a parched land,
so that I might kill[bd] her with thirst.
4 I will have no pity on her children,[be]
because they are children conceived in adultery.[bf]
5 For their mother has committed adultery;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will seek out[bg] my lovers;[bh]
they are the ones who give me my bread and my water,
my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine.[bi]
The Lord’s Discipline Will Bring Israel Back
6 “Therefore, I will soon[bj] fence her in[bk] with thorns;
I will wall her in[bl] so that[bm] she cannot find her way.[bn]
7 Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch[bo] them;
she will seek them, but she will not find them.[bp]
Then she will say,
‘I will go back[bq] to my husband,[br]
because I was better off then than I am now.’[bs]
Agricultural Fertility Withdrawn from Israel
8 “Yet[bt] until now[bu] she has refused to acknowledge[bv] that I[bw] was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;
and that it was I who[bx] lavished on her the silver and gold—
that they[by] used in worshiping Baal![bz]
9 Therefore, I will take back[ca] my grain during the harvest time[cb]
and my new wine when it ripens;[cc]
I will take away my wool and my flax
that I had provided[cd] in order to clothe her.[ce]
10 Soon[cf] I will expose her lewd nakedness[cg] in front of her lovers,
and no one will be able to rescue her from me![ch]
11 I will put an end to all her celebrations:
her annual religious festivals,
monthly new moon celebrations,
and weekly Sabbath festivities—
all her appointed festivals.
12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
about which she said, ‘These are my wages for prostitution[ci]
that my lovers gave to me!’
I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees[cj] into an uncultivated thicket,
so that wild animals[ck] will devour them.
13 I will punish her for the festival days
when she burned incense to the Baal idols;[cl]
she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but[cm] she forgot me!”[cn] says the Lord.
Future Repentance and Restoration of Israel
14 “However, in the future I will allure her;[co]
I will lead[cp] her back into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 From there I will give back her vineyards to her,
and turn the ‘Valley of Trouble’[cq] into an ‘Opportunity[cr] for Hope.’
There she will sing as she did when she was young,[cs]
when[ct] she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 At that time,”[cu] declares the Lord,
“you will call,[cv] ‘My husband’;[cw]
you will never again call me,[cx] ‘My master.’[cy]
17 For[cz] I will remove the names of the Baal idols[da] from your lips,[db]
so that you will never again utter their names![dc]
New Covenant Relationship with Repentant Israel
18 “At that time[dd] I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals,
the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground.
I will abolish[de] the warrior’s bow and sword—
that is, every weapon of warfare[df]—from the land,
and I will allow them to live securely.[dg]
19 I will commit myself to you[dh] forever;
I will commit myself to you in[di] righteousness and justice,
in steadfast love and tender compassion.
20 I will commit myself to you in faithfulness;
then[dj] you will acknowledge[dk] the Lord.[dl]
Agricultural Fertility Restored to the Repentant Nation
21 “At that time,[dm] I will willingly respond,”[dn] declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the sky,
and the sky[do] will respond to the ground;
22 then the ground will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;
and they will respond to ‘God Plants’ (Jezreel)![dp]
23 Then I will plant her as my own[dq] in the land.
I will have pity on ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah).
I will say to ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), ‘You are my people!’
And he[dr] will say, ‘You are[ds] my God!’”
An Illustration of God’s Love for Idolatrous Israel
3 The Lord said to me, “Go, show love to[dt] your wife[du] again, even though she loves[dv] another man[dw] and continually commits adultery.[dx] Likewise, the Lord loves[dy] the Israelites[dz] although they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.”[ea] 2 So I paid fifteen shekels of silver and about seven bushels of barley[eb] to purchase her. 3 Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or become joined to another man,[ec] and I also will wait for you.”[ed] 4 For the Israelites[ee] must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols. 5 Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king.[ef] Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings[eg] in future days.[eh]
5 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ[a] has been fathered[b] by God, and everyone who loves the father[c] loves the child fathered by him.[d] 2 By this[e] we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For[f] this is the love of God:[g] that we keep his commandments.[h] And his commandments do not weigh us down, 4 because[i] everyone[j] who has been fathered by God[k] conquers[l] the world.[m]
Testimony About the Son
This[n] is the conquering power[o] that has conquered[p] the world: our faith. 5 Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the one who believes that[q] Jesus is the Son of God? 6 Jesus Christ is the one who came by water and blood—not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because[r] the Spirit is the truth. 7 For[s] there are three that testify,[t] 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.
9 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, because[u] this[v] is the testimony of God that[w] he has testified concerning his Son. 10 (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.)[x] 11 And this is the testimony: God[y] has given us eternal life,[z] and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son[aa] has this[ab] eternal[ac] life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this[ad] eternal[ae] life.
Assurance of Eternal Life
13 I have written these things[af] to you who believe[ag] in the name of the Son of God so that[ah] you may know that you have eternal life.
14 And this is the confidence that we have before him: that[ai] whenever[aj] we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know[ak] that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him. 16 If[al] anyone sees his fellow Christian[am] committing a sin not resulting in death,[an] he should ask, and God[ao] will grant[ap] life to the person who commits a sin not resulting in death.[aq] There is a sin[ar] resulting in death.[as] I do not say that he should ask about that. 17 All unrighteousness[at] is sin, but there is sin not resulting in death.[au]
18 We know that everyone fathered[av] by God does not sin, but God[aw] protects[ax] the one he has fathered, and the evil one cannot touch him. 19 We know that we are from God,[ay] and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know[az] him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one[ba] is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.[bb]
Psalm 124[a]
A song of ascents;[b] by David.
124 “If the Lord had not been on our side”—
let Israel say this.—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us,[c]
3 they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
4 The water would have overpowered us;
the current[d] would have overwhelmed[e] us.[f]
5 The raging water
would have overwhelmed us.[g]
6 The Lord deserves praise,[h]
for[i] he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives,[j] like a bird from a hunter’s snare.
The snare broke, and we escaped.
8 Our deliverer is the Lord,[k]
the Creator[l] of heaven and earth.
5 The one[a] who flatters[b] his neighbor
spreads a net[c] for his steps.[d]
6 In the transgression of an evil person there is a snare,[e]
but a righteous person can sing[f] and rejoice.[g]
7 The righteous person cares for[h] the legal rights[i] of the poor;
the wicked person does not understand such[j] knowledge.
8 Scornful people[k] inflame[l] a city,[m]
but those who are wise turn away wrath.
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