Old/New Testament

1 The Word of the Lord came to Hosea the son of Beeri during the time that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam the son of Joash was king of Israel.

Hosea’s Family

² When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go and marry a wife who is not faithful in marriage, and have children from that woman. For the land is guilty of not being faithful to the Lord.” ³ So he married Gomer the daughter of Diblaim and she gave birth to his son. ⁴ And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the people of Jehu for the killing at Jezreel. And I will put an end to the ruling power of the people of Israel. ⁵ On that day, I will break the power of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.” ⁶ Then Gomer gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have loving-pity on the people of Israel and forgive them. ⁷ But I will have loving-pity on the people of Judah. I, the Lord their God, will save them. But I will not save them by bow, sword, war, horses, or horsemen.” ⁸ When Gomer had finished nursing Lo-ruhamah, she gave birth to a son. ⁹ And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.

The Gathering of Israel and Judah

¹⁰ “Yet the number of the people of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ it will be said to them, ‘You are the sons of the living God.’ ¹¹ The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together, and they will choose one leader for themselves. And they will go up from the land, for the day of Jezreel will be a great day.

2 “Say to your brothers, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one.’

God’s People Who Are Not Faithful

² “Speak with strong words to your mother. Speak with strong words, for she is not My wife and I am not her husband. Tell her to stop selling the use of her body and giving herself to other men. ³ If she does not, I will put her to shame by taking off her clothes and show her as when she was born. I will make her like a desert, like a hot and dry land, and will kill her with thirst. ⁴ I will have no loving-pity on her children, for they are children of her sinful ways. ⁵ Their mother has not been faithful. She who gave birth to them has acted in shame. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers. They give me my bread and water, my wool and linen, my oil and my drink.’ ⁶ So I will put thorn bushes in her way. I will build a wall so that she cannot find her way. ⁷ She will go after her lovers but will not catch up with them. She will look for them but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband. For it was better for me then than now.’

⁸ “She does not know that it was I Who gave her the grain, the new wine, the oil, and all the silver and gold, which they used for the false god Baal. ⁹ So I will take back My grain during the gathering time, and My new wine during its time. And I will take away My wool and My linen, which were given to cover her. ¹⁰ So I will take away the covering of her shame in the eyes of her lovers. And no one will take her out of My hand. ¹¹ I will put an end to all her fun, her special suppers, her new moons, her Days of Rest, and all her special times for gathering together. ¹² I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers. I will make many trees grow wild among them, and the animals of the field will eat them. ¹³ I will punish her for the days she gave gifts in worship to the false gods of Baal. I will punish her for the times she forgot Me, and put on rings and other beautiful objects and went after her lovers” says the Lord.

God’s Loving-Kindness for His People

¹⁴ “So I will lead her into the desert and speak words of comfort to her. ¹⁵ I will give her grape-fields there, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And she will sing there as she did when she was young, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ In that day” says the Lord, “you will call Me, ‘My Husband.’ And you will no longer call Me, ‘My Baal.’ ¹⁷ For I will take the names of the Baals from her mouth. The names of these false gods will never be spoken again. ¹⁸ In that day I will make an agreement for them with the wild animals of the field, the birds of the sky, and the things which move upon the ground. I will put an end to the bow, the sword, and war in all the land. And I will let My people lie down in peace and be safe. ¹⁹ I will promise to make you Mine forever. Yes, I will take you as My bride in what is right and good and fair, and in loving-kindness and in loving-pity. ²⁰ I will keep My promise and make you Mine. Then you will know the Lord.

²¹ “In that day” says the Lord, “I will give an answer to the heavens, and they will give an answer to the earth. ²² The earth will give an answer to the grain, the new wine, and the oil. And they will give an answer to Jezreel. ²³ I will plant her for Myself in the land. Those who were not loved, I will call, ‘My loved ones.’ Those who were not My people, I will call, ‘My people.’ And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

Israel Will Return to the Lord Their God

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again and love your wife, even when she is loved by another and is not faithful. Love her as the Lord loves the people of Israel, even when they turn to other gods and love cakes of dried grapes.” ² So I bought her for fifteen pieces of silver money and ten baskets of barley. ³ Then I said to her, “You must stay with me for many days, and be faithful to me. Do not have another man, and I will also be faithful to you.” ⁴ For the sons of Israel will live many days without a king or leader, without holy gifts or holy stone pillars, and without linen vests or false gods. ⁵ After this the sons of Israel will return and look for the Lord their God and for David their king. And they will come shaking before the Lord and receive His goodness in the last days.

God Speaks against Israel

4 Listen to the Word of the Lord, O people of Israel, because He has something against the people of the land. “They are not faithful or kind, and no one in the land knows God. ² There is swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and sex sins. They are always hurting others, and there is one killing after another. ³ The land is filled with sorrow. Everyone who lives on it wastes away, together with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky. Even the fish of the sea are taken away.

⁴ “Yet let no one put blame or guilt upon another. For your people are like those who argue with the religious leader. ⁵ You will fall during the day, and the religious leaders will fall with you during the night. And I will destroy your mother. ⁶ My people are destroyed because they have not learned. You were not willing to learn. So I am not willing to have you be My religious leader. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children.

⁷ “The more there were, the more they sinned against Me. I will change their shining-greatness into shame. ⁸ They feed on the sin of My people, and so they want them to sin more. ⁹ The religious leaders will be punished the same as the people. I will punish them for what they have done. ¹⁰ They will eat, but not have enough. They will do sex sins, but the number of their children will not grow because they have not been faithful to the Lord.

The Worship of False Gods

¹¹ “Their sinful ways and both old and new wine take away My people’s understanding. ¹² They ask things of a wooden god and are answered by a stick of wood. A false spirit has led them the wrong way. They have not been faithful, and they have left their God. ¹³ They give gifts in worship on the tops of the mountains and burn special perfume on the hills. They do this under oak, poplar and terebinth trees, because their shadow is pleasing. So your daughters are like women who sell the use of their bodies, and your brides do sex sins. ¹⁴ I will not punish your daughters when they are like women who sell the use of their bodies, or your brides when they do sex sins. For the men themselves go with the sinful women to give gifts in worship to false gods. And people without understanding will be destroyed.

¹⁵ “Even if you, Israel, are like women who sell the use of their bodies, do not let Judah become guilty. Do not go to Gilgal or up to Beth-aven. And do not swear, ‘As the Lord lives!’ ¹⁶ The people of Israel are strong-willed like a young cow. How then can the Lord feed them like a lamb in a large field? ¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to false gods. Let him alone. ¹⁸ Their strong drink is gone. They are like women who sell the use of their bodies all the time. Their rulers love shame. ¹⁹ The wind will carry them away, and they will be ashamed because they gave gifts to false gods.

1 The things that are written in the Book are made known by Jesus Christ. God gave these things to Christ so He could show them to the servants He owns. These are things which must happen very soon. Christ sent His angel to John who is a servant owned by Him. Christ made these things known to John. ² John tells that the Word of God is true. He tells of Jesus Christ and all that he saw and heard of Him. ³ The man who reads this Book and listens to it being read and obeys what it says will be happy. For all these things will happen soon.

John Writes to the Seven Churches in Asia

⁴ This is John writing to the seven churches in the country of Asia. May you have loving-favor and peace from God Who was and Who is and Who is to come. May you have loving-favor and peace from the seven Spirits who are before His throne. ⁵ May you have loving-favor and peace from Jesus Christ Who is faithful in telling the truth. Jesus Christ is the first to be raised from the dead. He is the head over all the kings of the earth. He is the One Who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood. ⁶ Christ has made us a holy nation of religious leaders who can go to His God and Father. He is the One to receive honor and power forever! Let it be so. ⁷ See! He is coming in the clouds. Every eye will see Him. Even the men who killed Him will see Him. All the people on the earth will cry out in sorrow because of Him. Yes, let it be so.

⁸ The Lord God says, “I am the First and the Last, the beginning and the end of all things. I am the All-powerful One Who was and Who is and Who is to come.”

What God Wanted to Show John of Christ

⁹ I, John, am your Christian brother. I have shared with you in suffering because of Jesus Christ. I have also shared with you His holy nation and we have not given up. I was put on the island called Patmos because I preached the Word of God and told about Jesus Christ. ¹⁰ I was under the Spirit’s power on the Lord’s Day when I heard a loud voice behind me like the loud sound of a horn. ¹¹ It said, “(*I am the First and the Last.) Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches. They are in the cities of Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum and Thyatira and Sardis and Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

¹² I turned around to see who was speaking to me. As I turned, I saw seven lights made of gold. ¹³ Among the lights stood One Who looked like the Son of Man. He had on a long coat that came to His feet. A belt of gold was around His chest. ¹⁴ His head and His hair were white like white wool. They were as white as snow. His eyes were like fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like shining brass as bright as if it were in a fire. His voice sounded like powerful rushing water. ¹⁶ He held seven stars in His right hand. A sharp sword that cuts both ways came out of His mouth. His face was shining as bright as the sun shines at noon. ¹⁷ When I saw Him, I fell down at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One. I was dead, but look, I am alive forever. I have power over death and hell. ¹⁹ So write the things you have seen and the things that are and the things that will happen later. ²⁰ This is what the seven stars and the seven lights made of gold mean that you saw in My right hand. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. The seven lights are the seven churches.