Hosea 1

1The Lord gave this message to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash

was king of Israel.H1697H3068H1954H1121H882H3117H5818H3147H271H3169H4428H3063H3117H3379H1121H3101H4428H3478

Hosea’s Wife and Children

2When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute

, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”H8462H1696H3068H1954H3068H559H1954H3212H3947H802H2183H3206H2183H776H2181H2181H310H30683So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.H3212H3947H1586H1323H1691H2029H3205H11214And the Lord said, “Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence.H3068H559H7121H8034H3157H4592H6485H1818H3157H1004H3058H7673H4468H1004H34785I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”H3117H7665H7198H3478H6010H31576Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.H2029H3205H1323H559H7121H8034H3819H3254H7355H1004H3478H5375H53757But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.”H7355H1004H3063H3467H3068H430H3467H7198H2719H4421H5483H65718After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son.H1580H3819H2029H3205H11219And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.H559H7121H8034H3818H597110

“Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’H4557H1121H3478H2344H3220H4058H5608H4725H559H5971H559H1121H2416H41011Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be—the day of Jezreel

—when God will again plant his people in his land.H1121H3063H1121H3478H6908H3162H7760H259H7218H5927H776H1419H3117H3157