Hosea's Prophecy
1The message of Yahweh which came to Hosea, son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (kings of Judah), and in the days of Jereboam, son of Joash (king of Israel):
The first of what Yahweh spoke to Hosea:
And Yahweh said to Hosea, "Go and take for yourself a wife of fornication, and she will bear children of fornication, because the land has committed gross fornication, turning away from Yahweh."
He went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblayim. She conceived and bore him a son. And Yahweh said to him, "Call his name 'Jezreel,' because in a little while, I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. It will happen in those days, and I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."
She conceived again and bore a daughter. He said to him, "Call her name 'No Compassion,' because I will never again show compassion to the house of Israel—lest I forgive them of anything!” However, as for the house of Judah, I will be compassionate toward them and save them by Jahweh their God—I will not save them by bow, sword, or battle, neither by horses or chariots.”
When she had weaned No-Compassion, she conceived and bore a son. He said, “Call his name ‘Not-My-People,’ because you are no longer my people, and I am no longer the ‘I AM’ to you.”
Yet, the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured, and which cannot be counted.2Call your brothers “My-People,” and your sisters, “Compassion!”
It shall happen in the place where I said to them, “You are not my people:”
It shall be said about them, “The sons of the Living God.”
The sons of Judah and Israel shall be gathered together,
And they will appoint for themselves one ruler and go up from the land,
Because the day of Jezreel will be great!
Struggle with your mother—Struggle, because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband—so that she might remove her fornication from her face, and her adulterous ornaments from between her breasts, so else I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth, and make her like the wilderness, and make her like the desert, and put her to death with thirst. As for her sons, I will not show compassion to them, because they are sons of fornication! Because their mother committed fornication, she brought shame upon their conception, because she said, “I will follow after lovers who will provide my food and water, my wool and linen, my oil and drink.” Therefore, I will fence in her way with thorns and put up a wall over her boundary, and she will not find her paths. She will pursue her lovers, but not catch them. She will seek them and not find them.
Then she will say, “I am going to return to my first husband, because I was better off then than now.” For she did not realize that it was I who gave her the grain, the sweet wine, and the oil! Yet the silver and the gold that I multiplied to her, they offered to Baal! Therefore I will return [also] and take back the grain, along with its time, and the sweet wine, with its season, and I will snatch away my wool and linen that was used to cover her nakedness! And now I will uncover her shame for all of her lovers to see, and no one will rescue her from my hand! I will bring all of her joy to an end, along with her festivals, months, Sabbaths, and all of her seasons. I will devastate her vines and fig trees, about which she said, “These are my harlotry wages which my lovers gave to me.” I will make them become like a thicket, and the animals of the field will eat from them.
And I will appoint days of the Baalim to which she offered sacrifices and put on her ring and her jewelry, and she went after her lovers but forgot me. This is Yahweh’s declaration!
Therefore, I will entice her and lead her into the wilderness and speak to her lovingly. There I will give her her vineyard and the valley of Achor as a window of hope, and she will answer there like she did in the days of her youth and like the day she went up out of the land of Egypt. And it will happen on that day—Yahweh declares—that you will call me, “My Husband,” but you will never again call me “My Baal.” I will remove the names of the Baalim from her mouth, and they will no longer be remembered by name. I will draw up a covenant with them on that day, with the animals of the field, with the birds of heaven, with the crawling things of the ground. As for the bow, the sword, and battle, I will destroy them off of the land and cause them to rest securely. I will betroth you to me forever—I will betroth you to me with righteousness and justice, and with faithful love and compassion. I will betroth you to me with faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh! It will happen on that day that I will answer—Yahweh says this—I will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth! The earth will answer the grain, the sweet wine, and the oil, and they will answer Jezreel. I will sow her in the land for me; I will show compassion to No-Compassion, and I will say to Not-Mine, “You are mine.” And he will say, “You are my God!”
3Yahweh said to me at another time, “Go! Love a woman who is loved by another man, an adulteress, just like Yahweh loves the sons of Israel, but they turn to other gods—they love raisin cakes.”
So I bought her for myself with fifteen pieces of silver and 80 gallons of barley. I said to her, “You shall return to me for many days. You must not commit adultery, and you must not be with anyone else, and I will do the same for you, too. This is because in many days, the sons of Israel will return without a king, without a prince, without an altar, without a memorial stone, without a priest’s robe, and without idols. After this, the sons of Israel return and seek Yahweh their God and David their king, and in fear they will approach Yahweh and his happiness in the end of days.
4Listen to Yahweh’s message, sons of Israel, because there is strife between Yahweh and those who dwell in the land; for there is no faithfulness, no love, and no knowledge of God in the land! Swearing of oaths, breaking of oaths, murder, theft, and adultery: they have broken out, and bloodshed retaliates against bloodshed! Because of this, the land grieves. They struggle as they dwell in it, including the animals of the field and the birds of heaven—and even the fish of the sea will perish! No one should argue with me, and no one should rebuke, because my argument is with you, priest! You will stumble today, and the prophet will stumble with you at night! I will destroy your mother! My people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge—because you have rejected knowledge, I have rejected you from being my priest. Also, since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will forget your children—even I will! The more they prospered, the more they sinned against me. I will cause their glory to become disgrace. They have consumed the sin offering of my people, but they carry their souls into punishment. It shall happen to the people and priest alike—I will appoint their way over them, and I will return their actions against them! They will eat and not be satisfied. They will commit adultery and not increase in number, because they have abandoned Yahweh and have clung to adultery, wine, and sweet wine, which take away understanding. My people will inquire with wood, but the rod will tell them that the adulterous spirit has caused them to wander away, and they committed adultery under their God’s nose! On the mountain peaks they offered abundant sacrifices, and on the hills they made burnt offerings under the oak, poplar, and terebinth, because there is good shade. Therefore your daughters commit fornication, and your brides commit adultery. I will not only punish your daughters (because they commit fornication), nor your brides (because they commit adultery), because the men also turn aside to harlots and offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes; and the people who have no knowledge will be thrown down. Although you are a harlot, Israel, Judah must not become guilty; they must not go to Gilgal, nor go up to Bethaven, nor swear, “As Yahweh lives,” because Israel has become stubborn like a cow. Now Yahweh will shepherd them like sheep in the open plain. Ephraim is joined together with false gods. Leave him alone! Their liquor has gone away—they commit horrible fornication, and their rulers completely love shame! A wind has bound them with its wings, and she shall be shamed by her sacrifices!
