Study Desk

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.

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 ."

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and ⁽ⁱ⁾bore him a son.

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.

On that day I will ^(m)break the bow of Israel in the ⁽ⁿ⁾valley of Jezreel."

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.

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."

When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son.

And ^[e]the Lord said, "Name him ^[f]Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not ^[g]your God."

^[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."

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.

^[a]Say to your brothers, "^[b]Ammi," and to your sisters, "^[c]Ruhamah."

"Contend with your mother, ^(a)contend, For she is ^(b)not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her ^(c)harlotry from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,

Or I will strip her ^(d)naked And expose her as on the ^(e)day when she was born. I will also ^(f)make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land And slay her with ^(g)thirst.

"Also, I will have no compassion on her children, Because they are ^(h)children of harlotry.

"For their mother has ⁽ⁱ⁾played the harlot; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘^(j)I will go after my lovers, Who ^(k)give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my ^(l)oil and my drink.'

"Therefore, behold, I will ^(m)hedge up ^[d]her way with ⁽ⁿ⁾thorns, And I will build ^[e]a wall against her so that she cannot find her ^(o)paths.

"She will ^(p)pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘^(q)I will go back to my ^(r)first husband, For it was ^(s)better for me then than now!'

"For she does ^(t)not know that it was ^(u)I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they ^[f]used for Baal.

"Therefore, I will ^(v)take back My grain at ^[g]harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax Given to cover her nakedness.

"And then I will ^(w)uncover her lewdness In the sight of her lovers, And no one will rescue her out of My hand.

"I will also ^(x)put an end to all her gaiety, Her ^(y)feasts, her ^(z)new moons, her sabbaths And all her festal assemblies.

"I will ^(aa)destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘These are my wages Which my lovers have given me.' And I will ^(ab)make them a forest, And the ^(ac)beasts of the field will devour them.

"I will punish her for the ^(ad)days of the Baals When she used to ^[h](ae)offer sacrifices to them And ^(af)adorn herself with her ^[i]earrings and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she ^(ag)forgot Me," declares the Lord .

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, ^(ah)Bring her into the wilderness And speak ^[j]kindly to her.

"Then I will give her her ^(ai)vineyards from there, And ^(aj)the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will ^[k](ak)sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the ^(al)day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

"It will come about in that day," declares the Lord , "That you will call Me ^[l](am)Ishi And will no longer call Me ^[m]Baali.

"For ^(an)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will be ^[n]mentioned by their names no more.

"In that day I will also make a covenant for them With the ^(ao)beasts of the field, The birds of the sky And the creeping things of the ground. And I will ^[o](ap)abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, And will make them ^(aq)lie down in safety.

"I will ^(ar)betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in ^(as)righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion,

And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will ^(at)know the Lord .

"It will come about in that day that ^(au)I will respond," declares the Lord . "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,

And the ^(av)earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil, And they will respond to ^[p]Jezreel.

"I will ^(aw)sow her for Myself in the land. ^(ax)I will also have compassion on ^[q]her who had not obtained compassion, And ^(ay)I will say to ^[r]those who were ^(az)not My people, ‘You are My people!' And ^[s]they will say, ‘You are my God!'"

Then the Lord said to me, "Go again, love a ^[a]woman who is loved by her ^[b]husband, yet an adulteress, even ^(a)as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin ^(b)cakes."

So I ^(c)bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a ^[c]half of barley.

Then I said to her, "You shall ^(d)stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a ^[d]man; so I will also be toward you."

For the sons of Israel will remain for many days ^(e)without king or prince, ^(f)without sacrifice or sacred ^(g)pillar and without ^(h)ephod or ^[e](i)household idols.

Afterward the sons of Israel will ^(j)return and seek the Lord their God and ^(k)David their king; and ^(l)they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.

^(a)Listen to the word of the Lord , O sons of Israel, For the Lord has a ^(b)case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is ^(c)no ^[a]faithfulness or ^[b]kindness Or ^(d)knowledge of God in the land.

There is ^(e)swearing, ^(f)deception, ^(g)murder, ^(h)stealing and ⁽ⁱ⁾adultery. They employ violence, so that ^(j)bloodshed ^[c]follows bloodshed.

Therefore the land ^(k)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 ^[d]disappear.

Yet let no one ^[e](l)find fault, and let none offer reproof; For your people are like those who ^(m)contend with the priest.

So you will ⁽ⁿ⁾stumble by day, And the prophet also will stumble with you by night; And I will destroy your ^(o)mother.

^(p)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have ^(q)rejected knowledge, I also will ^(r)reject you from being My priest. Since you have ^(s)forgotten the ^(t)law of your God, I also will forget your children.

The more they ^(u)multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will ^(v)change their glory into shame.

They ^(w)feed on the ^[f]sin of My people And ^(x)direct their desire toward their iniquity.

And it will be, like people, ^(y)like priest; So I will ^(z)punish them for their ways And repay them for their deeds.

^(aa)They will eat, but not have enough; They will ^(ab)play the harlot, but not increase, Because they have ^[g](ac)stopped giving heed to the Lord .

Harlotry, ^(ad)wine and new wine take away the ^[h]understanding.

My people ^(ae)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 ^[i]from their God.

They offer sacrifices on the ^(af)tops of the mountains And ^[j](ag)burn incense on the hills, ^(ah)Under oak, poplar and terebinth, Because their shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters play the harlot And your ^[k]brides commit adultery.

I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot Or your ^[l]brides when they commit adultery, For the men themselves go apart with harlots And offer sacrifices with ^(ai)temple prostitutes; So the people without understanding are ^[m]ruined.

Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Do not let Judah become guilty; Also do not go to ^(aj)Gilgal, Or go up to Beth-aven ^(ak)And take the oath: "As the Lord lives!"

Since Israel is ^(al)stubborn Like a stubborn heifer, ^[n]Can the Lord now ^(am)pasture them Like a lamb in a large field?

Ephraim is joined to ^(an)idols; ^(ao)Let him alone.

Their liquor gone, They play the harlot continually; ^(ap)Their ^[o]rulers dearly love shame.

^(aq)The wind wraps them in its wings, And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.