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The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.
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When the LORD first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him: Go and marry a promiscuous wife and [have] children of promiscuity, for the whole land has been promiscuous by abandoning the LORD.
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So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
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Then the LORD said to him: Name him Jezreel, for in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
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On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
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She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to him: Name her No Compassion, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel. I will certainly take them away.
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But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the LORD their God. I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war, or by horses and cavalry.
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After Gomer had weaned No Compassion, she conceived and gave birth to a son.
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Then the LORD said: Name him Not My People, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God.
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Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And in the place where they were told: You are not My people, they will be called: Sons of the living God.
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And the Judeans and the Israelites will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves a single ruler, and go up from the land. For the day of Jezreel will be great.
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Call your brothers: My People and your sisters: Compassion.
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Rebuke your mother; rebuke [her]. For she is not My wife and I am not her husband. Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts.
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Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her as she was on the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and like a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst.
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I will have no compassion on her children because they are the children of promiscuity.
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For their mother is promiscuous; she conceived them and acted shamefully. For she thought: I will go after my lovers, the men who give me my food and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink.
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Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths.
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She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find [them]. Then she will think: I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now.
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She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal.
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Therefore, I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were to cover her nakedness.
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Now I will expose her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from My hands.
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I will put an end to all her celebrations: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths-- all her festivals.
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I will devastate her vines and fig trees. She thinks that these are her wages that her lovers have given her. I will turn them into a thicket, and the wild animals will eat them.
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And I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, put on her rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but forgot Me. [This is] the LORD's declaration.
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Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
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There I will give her vineyards back to her and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as [she did] in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
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In that day-- the LORD's declaration-- you will call [Me]: My husband, and no longer call Me: My Baal.
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For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; they will no longer be remembered by their names.
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On that day I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will shatter bow, sword, and weapons of war in the land and will enable the people to rest securely.
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I will take you to be My wife forever. I will take you to be My wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion.
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I will take you to be My wife in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.
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On that day I will respond-- the LORD's declaration. I will respond to the sky, and it will respond to the earth.
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The earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.
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I will sow her in the land for Myself, and I will have compassion on No Compassion; I will say to Not My People: You are My people, and he will say: [You are] My God.
1
Then the LORD said to me, "Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes."
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So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and five bushels of barley.
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I said to her, "You must live with me many days. Don't be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you."
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For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.
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Afterwards, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come with awe to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.
