Hosea 1-4
New International Reader's Version
1 A message from the Lord came to Hosea, the son of Beeri. The message came while Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. It also came while Jeroboam was king of Israel. He was the son of Jehoash. Here is what the Lord said to him.
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 The Lord began to speak through Hosea. He said to him, “Go. Marry a woman who has sex with anyone she wants. Have children with her. Do this because the people of the land are like that kind of wife. They have not been faithful to me.” 3 So Hosea married Gomer. She was the daughter of Diblaim. Gomer became pregnant and had a son by Hosea.
4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel. That’s because I will soon punish Jehu’s royal family. He killed many people at the city of Jezreel. So I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 At that time I will break their military power. It will happen in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 Gomer became pregnant again. She had a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-Ruhamah.” Lo-Ruhamah means Not Loved. “That’s because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel. I will not forgive them anymore. 7 But I will show love to the people of Judah. And I will save them. I will not use bows or swords or other weapons of war to do it. I will not save them by using horses and horsemen either. Instead, I will use my own power to save them. I am the Lord their God. And I will save them.”
8 Later, Gomer stopped nursing Lo-Ruhamah. After that, she had another son. 9 Then the Lord said, “Name him Lo-Ammi.” Lo-Ammi means Not My People. “That’s because Israel is no longer my people. And I am no longer their God.
10 “But the time will come when the people of Israel will be like the sand on the seashore. It can’t be measured or counted. Now it is said about them, ‘You are not my people.’ But at that time they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ 11 The people of Judah and Israel will come together again. They will appoint one leader and come up out of the land. And Jezreel’s day will be great.
2 “People of Israel, call your brothers ‘My people.’ And call your sisters ‘My loved ones.’
Israel Is Punished and Brought Back to the Lord
2 “Tell your mother she is wrong.
Tell her she is wrong.
She isn’t acting like a wife to me anymore.
She no longer treats me as her husband.
Tell her to stop looking and acting like a prostitute.
Tell her not to let her lovers
lie on her breasts anymore.
3 If she doesn’t stop it, I will strip her naked.
I’ll make her as bare as she was on the day she was born.
I’ll make her like a desert.
She will become like dry land.
And I’ll let her die of thirst.
4 “I won’t show my love to her children.
They are the children of other men.
5 Their mother hasn’t been faithful to me.
She who became pregnant with them
has brought shame on herself.
She said, ‘I will chase after my lovers.
They give me my food and water.
They provide me with wool and linen.
They give me olive oil and wine.’
6 So I will block her path with bushes that have thorns.
I’ll build a wall around her.
Then she can’t go to her lovers.
7 She will still chase after her lovers.
But she won’t catch them.
She’ll look for them.
But she won’t find them.
Then she’ll say,
‘I’ll go back to my husband.
That’s where I was at first.
I was better off then than I am now.’
8 She wouldn’t admit that I was the one
who gave her everything she had.
I provided her with grain, olive oil and fresh wine.
I gave her plenty of silver and gold.
But she used it to make statues of Baal.
9 “So I will take away my grain when it gets ripe.
I’ll take my fresh wine when it’s ready.
I’ll take back my wool and my linen.
I gave them to her to cover her naked body.
10 So now I’ll uncover her body.
All her lovers will see it.
No one can stop me from punishing her.
11 I will put a stop to the special times she celebrates.
I’ll bring an end to the feasts she celebrates each year.
I’ll stop her New Moon feasts and her Sabbath days.
I’ll bring all her appointed feasts to an end.
12 I will destroy her vines and her fig trees.
She said they were her pay from her lovers.
I’ll make them like clumps of bushes and weeds.
Wild animals will eat them up.
13 Israel burned incense to the gods
that were named Baal.
I will punish her
for all the times she did that.
She decorated herself with rings and jewelry.
Then she went after her lovers.
But she forgot all about me,”
declares the Lord.
14 “So now I am going to draw her back to me.
I will lead her into the desert.
There I will speak tenderly to her.
15 I will give her back her vineyards.
I will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope for her.
Then she will love me, as she did when she was young.
She will love me just as she did
when she came up out of Egypt.
16 “A new day is coming,” announces the Lord.
“Israel will call me ‘my husband.’
She will no longer call me ‘my master.’
17 She will no longer speak about the gods
that are named Baal.
She will not pray to them for help anymore.
18 At that time I will make a covenant
for the good of my people.
I will make it with the wild animals
and the birds in the sky.
It will also be made with the creatures
that move along the ground.
I will remove bows and swords
and other weapons of war from the land.
Then my people can lie down in safety.
19 I will make Israel my own.
She will belong to me forever.
I will do to her what is right and fair.
I will love her tenderly.
20 I will be faithful to her.
And she will recognize me as the Lord.
21 “So at that time I will answer her,”
announces the Lord.
“I will command the skies
to send rain on the earth.
22 Then the earth will produce grain, olive oil and fresh wine.
And Israel will be called Jezreel.
That’s because I will answer her prayers.
23 I will plant her in the land for myself.
I will show my love to the one I called Not My Loved One.
I will say, ‘You are my people’
to those who were called Not My People.
And they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”
Hosea Brings His Wife Back to Himself
3 The Lord said to me, “Go. Show your love to your wife again. She is loved by another man. And she has committed adultery. But I want you to love her just as I love the people of Israel. They turn to other gods. And they love to offer raisin cakes to Baal and eat them. In spite of that, I love my people.”
2 So I bought Gomer for six ounces of silver and 430 pounds of barley. 3 Then I told her, “You must wait for me for a long time. You must not be a prostitute. You must not have sex with any man. And I will be faithful to you too.”
4 So the people of Israel will live for a long time without a king or prince. They won’t have sacrifices or sacred stones. They won’t have sacred linen aprons or statues of family gods. 5 After that, the people of Israel will return to the Lord their God. They will look to him and to a king from the family line of David. In the last days, they will tremble with fear as they come to the Lord. And they will receive his full blessing.
The Lord Brings Charges Against Israel
4 People of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message.
He is bringing charges
against you who live in Israel.
He says, “There is no faithfulness
or love in the land.
No one recognizes me as God.
2 People curse one another.
They tell lies and commit murder.
They steal and commit adultery.
They break all my laws.
They keep spilling the blood of other people.
3 That is why the land is drying up.
All those who live in it
are getting weaker and weaker.
The wild animals and the birds in the sky are dying.
So are the fish in the ocean.
4 “But you priests should not blame the people.
You should not find fault with one another.
After all, your people
could also bring charges against you.
5 You trip and fall day and night.
And the prophets fall down along with you.
So I will destroy your nation.
She is the one who gave birth to you.
6 My people are destroyed
because they do not know me.
“You priests have refused to obey me.
So I will refuse to accept you as my priests.
You have not paid any attention to my law.
So I will not let your children be my priests.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me.
They have traded their glorious God for that shameful god named Baal.
8 They live off the sins of my people.
And they want them to keep on sinning.
9 So here is what I will do.
I will punish people and priests alike.
I will judge them because of their sinful lives.
I will pay them back
for the evil things they have done.
10 “My people will eat.
But they will not have enough.
They will have sex with prostitutes.
But they will not have any children.
That’s because they have deserted me.
They have sex 11 with prostitutes.
They drink old wine and fresh wine.
Their drinking has destroyed their ability to understand.
12 My people ask a wooden statue of a god for advice.
They get answers from a stick of wood.
They are as unfaithful as prostitutes.
They are not faithful to their God.
13 They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops.
They burn offerings on the hills.
They worship under oak, poplar and terebinth trees.
The trees provide plenty of shade.
So your daughters become prostitutes.
And your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 “I will not punish your daughters
when they become prostitutes.
I will not judge your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery.
After all, the men themselves have sex with sinful women.
They offer sacrifices where temple prostitutes earn their living.
People who can’t understand will be destroyed!
15 “Israel, you are not faithful to me.
But I do not want Judah to become guilty too.
“My people, do not go to Gilgal to offer sacrifices.
Do not go up to Bethel to worship other gods.
When you make a promise, do not say,
‘You can be sure that the Lord is alive.’
16 The people of Israel are stubborn.
They are as stubborn as a young cow.
So how can I take care of them
like lambs in a meadow?
17 The people of Ephraim have joined themselves to other gods.
And nothing can be done to help them.
18 They continue to be unfaithful to me
even when their drinks are gone.
And their rulers love to do shameful things.
19 A windstorm will blow all of them away.
And their sacrifices will bring shame on them.
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