< Hosea 1 >
1 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of 'Uzziyah, Jotham, Achaz, [and] Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, and in the days of Jerobo'am the son of Joash the king of Israel.
2 The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea was, that the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of prostitution and children of prostitution; for the [inhabitants of the] land go far astray, departing from the Lord.
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblayim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Yizre'el; for but yet a little while, when I will visit the blood of Yizre'el upon the house of Jehu, and I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Yizre'el.
6 And she conceived again, and bore a daughter: and he said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruchamah [[Not finding mercy]]; for I will not farther have any more mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will give them their full recompense.
7 But upon the house of Judah will I have mercy, and I will save them through the Lord their God, and I will not save them by the bow, or by the sword, or by battle, by horses, or by horsemen.
8 Now when she had weaned Lo-ruchamah, she conceived, and bore a son.
9 Then said he, Call his name Lo-'ammi [[Not my people]]; for ye are not my people, and I will indeed not be unto you [a God].
10 Yet shall the number of the children of Israel [once] be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that instead that people say of them, Ye are not my people [[Lo-'ammi]], shall they call them, The sons of the living God.
11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one head, and they shall go up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Yizre'el.