1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, ^(A)in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of ^(B)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

Hosea's Wife and Children

² When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, ^(C)“Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have ^(D)children of whoredom, for ^(E)the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” ³ So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while ^(F)I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and ^(G)I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. ⁵ And on that day ^(H)I will break the bow of Israel ^(I)in the Valley of Jezreel.”

⁶ She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, ^(J)“Call her name No Mercy,^[a] for ^(K)I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. ⁷ But ^(L)I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I ^(M)will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

⁸ When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. ⁹ And the Lord said, ^(N)“Call his name Not My People,^[b] for ^(O)you are not my people, and I am not your God.”^[c]

^10 [d] Yet ^(P)the number of the children of Israel shall be ^(Q)like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. ^(R)And ^(S)in the place where it was said to them, ^(T)“You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, ^(U)“Children^[e] of ^(V)the living God.” ¹¹ And ^(W)the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and ^(X)they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished

2 ^[f] Say to your brothers, ^(Y)“You are my people,”^[g] and to your sisters, ^(Z)“You have received mercy.”^[h]

The Lord's Mercy on Israel

¹⁶ “And ^(BL)in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ ¹⁷ For ^(BM)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. ¹⁸ And ^(BN)I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And ^(BO)I will abolish^[k] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in ^(BP)safety. ¹⁹ And I will betroth you to me ^(BQ)forever. ^(BR)I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. ^20 (BS)I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And ^(BT)you shall know the Lord.

Hosea Redeems His Wife

3 And the Lord said to me, ^(CC)“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” ² So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a ^(CD)homer and a lethech^[o] of barley. ³ And I said to her, “You must ^(CE)dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” ⁴ For the children of Israel ^(CF)shall dwell many days ^(CG)without king or prince, ^(CH)without sacrifice or ^(CI)pillar, without ^(CJ)ephod or ^(CK)household gods. ⁵ Afterward ^(CL)the children of Israel shall return and ^(CM)seek the Lord their God, and ^(CN)David their king, ^(CO)and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the ^(CP)latter days.

The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs

16 ^(A)And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and ^(B)to test him ^(C)they asked him to show them ^(D)a sign from heaven. ² He answered them,^{[a] (E)}“When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ^(F)You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret ^(G)the signs of the times. ^4 (H)An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So ^(I)he left them and departed.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵ When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “Watch and ^(J)beware of ^(K)the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” ⁸ But ^(L)Jesus, aware of this, said, ^(M)“O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ^9 (N)Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember ^(O)the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹⁰ Or ^(P)the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹¹ How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? ^(Q)Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ^12 (R)Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of ^(S)the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^13 (T)Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(U)John the Baptist, others say ^(V)Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, ^(W)“You are ^(X)the Christ, ^(Y)the Son of ^(Z)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, ^(AA)“Blessed are you, ^(AB)Simon Bar-Jonah! For ^(AC)flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, ^(AD)but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, ^(AE)you are Peter, and ^(AF)on this rock^[b] I will build my church, and ^(AG)the gates of ^(AH)hell^[c] shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(AI)the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and ^(AJ)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[d] in heaven.” ^20 (AK)Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

^21 (AL)From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that ^(AM)he must go to Jerusalem and ^(AN)suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on ^(AO)the third day be raised. ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord!^[e] This shall never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, ^(AP)“Get behind me, Satan! You are ^(AQ)a hindrance^[f] to me. For you ^(AR)are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(AS)deny himself and ^(AT)take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For ^(AU)whoever would save his life^[g] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For ^(AV)what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or ^(AW)what shall a man give in return for his soul? ^27 (AX)For the Son of Man is going to come with ^(AY)his angels in the glory of his Father, and ^(AZ)then he will repay each person according to what he has done. ²⁸ Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not ^(BA)taste death ^(BB)until they see the Son of Man ^(BC)coming in his kingdom.”