Hosea 3

1 And the Lord said to me: Go yet again, and love a woman beloved of her friend, and an adulteress: as the Lord loveth the children of Israel, and they look to strange gods, and love the husks of the grapes.

The Lord told me, “Go again and love a woman who is loved by another and who is committing adultery, just as the Lord loves the children of Israel, even though they turn to other gods and love their sensual worship.”

2 And I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a core of barley, and for half a core of barley.

So I bought her back for fifteen shekels of silver and one and half homer of barley.

3 And I said to her: Thou shalt wait for me many days: thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt be no man’s, and I also will wait for thee.

I told her, “You must remain with me for many days and you shall stop your prostitution. You shall not be intimate with any man, and then I shall be yours.”

4 For the children of Israel shall sit many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without theraphim.

For the people of Israel shall be without a king or a prince, without a sacrifice or a stone pillar or a pagan image or an idolatrous shrine for a long time.

5 And after this the children of Israel shall return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king: and they shall fear the Lord, and his goodness in the last days.

After this, the people of Israel will return and dedicate themselves to the Lord their God and to the line of David their king. In the last days they will come with awe and reverence for the Lord and his goodness.