Hosea 1-3

New American Standard Bible

Hosea’s Wife and Children

1 The word of the Lord which came to ^(A)Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of ^(B)Uzziah, ^(C)Jotham, ^(D)Ahaz, and ^(E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of ^(F)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

²When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “^(G)Go, take for yourself a wife ^[a]inclined to infidelity, and children of infidelity; for ^(H)the land commits flagrant infidelity, ^[b]abandoning the Lord.” ³So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and ^(I)bore him a son. ⁴And the Lord said to him, “Name him ^(J)Jezreel; for in just a little while ^(K)I will ^[c]punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and ^(L)I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. ⁵On that day I will ^(M)break the bow of Israel in the ^(N)Valley of Jezreel.”

⁶Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And ^[d]the Lord said to him, “Name her ^[e]Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer ^(O)take pity on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. ⁷But I will take ^(P)pity on the house of Judah and ^(Q)save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by ^(R)bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”

⁸When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. ⁹And ^[f]the Lord said, “Name him ^[g]Lo-ammi, because you are not My people, and I am not ^[h]your God.”

¹⁰^[i]Yet the number of the sons of Israel
Will be like the ^(S)sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or counted;
And ^(T)in the place
Where it is said to them,
“You are ^(U)not My people,”
It will be said to them,
“You are the ^(V)sons of the living God.”
¹¹And the ^(W)sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be ^(X)gathered together,
And they will appoint for themselves ^(Y)one leader,
And they will go up from the land,
For the day of Jezreel will be great.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

2 ^[j]Say to your brothers, “^[k]Ammi,” and to your sisters, “^[l]Ruhamah.”

²“Dispute with your mother, ^(Z)dispute,
Because she is ^(AA)not my wife, and I am not her husband;
But she must remove her ^(AB)infidelity from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
³Otherwise, I will strip her ^(AC)naked
And expose her as on the ^(AD)day she was born.
I will also ^(AE)make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land,
And put her to death with ^(AF)thirst.
⁴Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are ^(AG)children of infidelity.
⁵For their mother has ^(AH)committed prostitution;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘^(AI)I will go after my lovers,
Who ^(AJ)give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my ^(AK)oil and my drink.’
⁶Therefore, behold, I will ^(AL)obstruct ^[m]her way with ^(AM)thorns,
And I will build ^[n]a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her ^(AN)paths.
⁷And she will ^(AO)pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘^(AP)I will go back to my ^(AQ)first husband,
Because it was ^(AR)better for me then than now!’

⁸“Yet she does ^(AS)not know that it was ^(AT)I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they ^[o]used for Baal.
⁹Therefore, I will ^[p]^(AU)take back My grain at ^[q]harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
That I gave to cover her nakedness.
¹⁰So now I will ^(AV)uncover her ^[r]lewdness
Before the eyes of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
¹¹I will also ^(AW)put an end to all her joy,
Her ^(AX)feasts, her ^(AY)new moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
¹²And I will ^(AZ)destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will ^(BA)turn them into a forest,
And the ^(BB)animals of the field will devour them.
¹³I will punish her for the ^(BC)days of the Baals
When she used to ^[s]^(BD)offer sacrifices to them
And ^(BE)adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she ^(BF)forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

¹⁴“Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
^(BG)Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak ^[t]kindly to her.
¹⁵Then I will give her her ^(BH)vineyards from there,
And ^(BI)the ^[u]Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will ^[v]^(BJ)respond there as in the days of her youth,
As in the ^(BK)day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
¹⁶And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me ^[w]^(BL)my husband
And no longer call Me my ^[x]Baal.
¹⁷For ^(BM)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will no longer be ^[y]mentioned by their names.
¹⁸On that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the ^(BN)animals of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the crawling things of the ground.
And I will ^[z]^(BO)eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
And will let them ^(BP)lie down in safety.
¹⁹I will ^(BQ)betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in ^(BR)righteousness and in justice,
In favor and in compassion,
²⁰And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will ^(BS)know the Lord.

²¹“And it will come about on that day that ^(BT)I will respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
²²And the ^(BU)earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil,
And they will respond to ^[aa]Jezreel.
²³I will ^(BV)sow her for Myself in the land.
^(BW)I will also have compassion on ^[ab]her who had not obtained compassion,
And ^(BX)I will say to ^[ac]those who were ^(BY)not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And ^[ad]they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

Hosea’s Redemption of Gomer

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love ^[ae]a woman who is loved by her ^[af]husband, yet is committing adultery, ^(BZ)as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love ^[ag]raisin ^(CA)cakes.” ²So I ^(CB)purchased her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and a ^[ah]homer and a ^[ai]lethech of barley. ³Then I said to her, “You shall ^(CC)live with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute, nor shall you have another man; so I will also be toward you.” ⁴For the sons of Israel will live for many days ^(CD)without a king or leader, ^(CE)without sacrifice or ^(CF)memorial stone, and without ^(CG)ephod or ^[aj]^(CH)household idols. ⁵Afterward the sons of Israel will ^(CI)return and seek the Lord their God and ^(CJ)David their king; and ^(CK)they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.