Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options Listen to Hosea 1-4

Hosea 1-4
New American Standard Bible 1995

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.

2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “(G)Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for (H)the land commits flagrant harlotry, [a]forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and (I)bore him a son. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Name him (J)Jezreel; for yet a little while, and (K)I will [b]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. 5 On that day I will (M)break the bow of Israel in the (N)valley of Jezreel.”

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

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

10 [h]Yet the number of the sons of Israel
Will be like the (S)sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or numbered;
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.”
11 And 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 great will be the day of Jezreel.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

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

2 “Contend with your mother, (Z)contend,
For she is (AA)not my wife, and I am not her husband;
And let her put away her (AB)harlotry from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
3 Or I will strip her (AC)naked
And expose her as on the (AD)day when she was born.
I will also (AE)make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land
And slay her with (AF)thirst.
4 “Also, I will have no compassion on her children,
Because they are (AG)children of harlotry.
5 “For their mother has (AH)played the harlot;
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.’
6 “Therefore, behold, I will (AL)hedge up [l]her way with (AM)thorns,
And I will build [m]a wall against her so that she cannot find her (AN)paths.
7 “She will (AO)pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake 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,
For it was (AR)better for me then than now!’

8 “For she does (AS)not know that it was (AT)I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they [n]used for Baal.
9 “Therefore, I will (AU)take back My grain at [o]harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
Given to cover her nakedness.
10 “And then I will (AV)uncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her out of My hand.
11 “I will also (AW)put an end to all her gaiety,
Her (AX)feasts, her (AY)new moons, her sabbaths
And all her festal assemblies.
12 “I will (AZ)destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘These are my wages
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will (BA)make them a forest,
And the (BB)beasts of the field will devour them.
13 “I will punish her for the (BC)days of the Baals
When she used to [p](BD)offer sacrifices to them
And (BE)adorn herself with her [q]earrings and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she (BF)forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
(BG)Bring her into the wilderness
And speak [r]kindly to her.
15 “Then I will give her her (BH)vineyards from there,
And (BI)the valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will [s](BJ)sing there as in the days of her youth,
As in the (BK)day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me [t](BL)Ishi
And will no longer call Me [u]Baali.
17 “For (BM)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will be [v]mentioned by their names no more.
18 “In that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the (BN)beasts of the field,
The birds of the sky
And the creeping things of the ground.
And I will [w](BO)abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land,
And will make them (BP)lie down in safety.
19 “I will (BQ)betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in (BR)righteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will (BS)know the Lord.

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

Hosea’s Second Symbolic Marriage

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a [ab]woman who is loved by her [ac]husband, yet an adulteress, even (BZ)as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin (CA)cakes.” 2 So I (CB)bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a [ad]half of barley. 3 Then I said to her, “You shall (CC)stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a [ae]man; so I will also be toward you.” 4 For the sons of Israel will remain for many days (CD)without king or prince, (CE)without sacrifice or sacred (CF)pillar and without (CG)ephod or [af](CH)household idols. 5 Afterward 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.

God’s Controversy with Israel

4 (CL)Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel,
For the Lord has a (CM)case against the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is (CN)no [ag]faithfulness or [ah]kindness
Or (CO)knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is (CP)swearing, (CQ)deception, (CR)murder, (CS)stealing and (CT)adultery.
They employ violence, so that (CU)bloodshed [ai]follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land (CV)mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,
And also the fish of the sea [aj]disappear.

4 Yet let no one [ak](CW)find fault, and let none offer reproof;
For your people are like those who (CX)contend with the priest.
5 So you will (CY)stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your (CZ)mother.
6 (DA)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have (DB)rejected knowledge,
I also will (DC)reject you from being My priest.
Since you have (DD)forgotten the (DE)law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

7 The more they (DF)multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will (DG)change their glory into shame.
8 They (DH)feed on the [al]sin of My people
And (DI)direct their desire toward their iniquity.
9 And it will be, like people, (DJ)like priest;
So I will (DK)punish them for their ways
And repay them for their deeds.
10 (DL)They will eat, but not have enough;
They will (DM)play the harlot, but not increase,
Because they have [am](DN)stopped giving heed to the Lord.

11 Harlotry, (DO)wine and new wine take away the [an]understanding.
12 My people (DP)consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;
For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,
And they have played the harlot, departing [ao]from their God.
13 They offer sacrifices on the (DQ)tops of the mountains
And [ap](DR)burn incense on the hills,
(DS)Under oak, poplar and terebinth,
Because their shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters play the harlot
And your [aq]brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot
Or your [ar]brides when they commit adultery,
For the men themselves go apart with harlots
And offer sacrifices with (DT)temple prostitutes;
So the people without understanding are [as]ruined.

15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Do not let Judah become guilty;
Also do not go to (DU)Gilgal,
Or go up to Beth-aven
(DV)And take the oath:
“As the Lord lives!”
16 Since Israel is (DW)stubborn
Like a stubborn heifer,
[at]Can the Lord now (DX)pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?
17 Ephraim is joined to (DY)idols;
(DZ)Let him alone.
18 Their liquor gone,
They play the harlot continually;
(EA)Their [au]rulers dearly love shame.
19 (EB)The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 1:2 Lit from not following after
  2. Hosea 1:4 Lit visit the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu
  3. Hosea 1:6 Lit He
  4. Hosea 1:6 I.e. she has not obtained compassion
  5. Hosea 1:9 Lit He
  6. Hosea 1:9 I.e. not my people
  7. Hosea 1:9 Lit yours
  8. Hosea 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Heb
  9. Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Heb
  10. Hosea 2:1 I.e. my people
  11. Hosea 2:1 I.e. she has obtained compassion
  12. Hosea 2:6 So with some ancient versions; Heb your
  13. Hosea 2:6 Lit her wall so that
  14. Hosea 2:8 Or made into the
  15. Hosea 2:9 Lit its time
  16. Hosea 2:13 Or burn incense
  17. Hosea 2:13 Or nose rings
  18. Hosea 2:14 Lit upon her heart
  19. Hosea 2:15 Or give answer
  20. Hosea 2:16 I.e. my husband
  21. Hosea 2:16 I.e. my master, or my Baal
  22. Hosea 2:17 Or remembered
  23. Hosea 2:18 Lit break
  24. Hosea 2:22 I.e. God sows
  25. Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ruhamah
  26. Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ammi
  27. Hosea 2:23 Lit he
  28. Hosea 3:1 I.e. Gomer
  29. Hosea 3:1 Lit companion
  30. Hosea 3:2 Heb lethech
  31. Hosea 3:3 Or husband
  32. Hosea 3:4 Heb teraphim
  33. Hosea 4:1 Or truth
  34. Hosea 4:1 Or loyalty
  35. Hosea 4:2 Lit touches
  36. Hosea 4:3 Lit are taken away
  37. Hosea 4:4 Lit contend
  38. Hosea 4:8 Or sin offering
  39. Hosea 4:10 Lit forsaken giving heed; or forsaken the Lord to practice (v 11) harlotry
  40. Hosea 4:11 Lit heart
  41. Hosea 4:12 Lit from under
  42. Hosea 4:13 Or offer sacrifices
  43. Hosea 4:13 Or daughters-in-law
  44. Hosea 4:14 Or daughters-in-law
  45. Hosea 4:14 Lit thrust down
  46. Hosea 4:16 Or Now the Lord will pasture...field
  47. Hosea 4:18 Lit shields
Next
Daniel 12
Hosea 5
Next
dropdown
New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation