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.

[I am] Hosea, the son of Beeri. Yahweh gave me these messages [at various times] during the years that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah, and Jeroboam the son of Jehoash was 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.

When Yahweh first [began to] give messages to me [to tell to the people of Israel], he said to me, “Go and marry a prostitute. But [some of] her children will be born as a result of her having sex with men to whom she is not married. That will illustrate how the people of Israel have turned away from me and worship (idols/other gods).”

3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblayim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

So I married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. She became pregnant and gave birth to my 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.

Yahweh said to me, “Give him the name Jezreel, [which means ‘God scatters’], because I will soon punish the descendants [MTY] of [King] Jehu [by scattering them], because he killed many of my people at Jezreel [town]. [Some day] I will end the kingdom 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.

by destroying the power [MTY] of [the army of] Israel in Jezreel Valley.”

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.

[Later] Gomer became pregnant [again], and she gave birth to a daughter. Yahweh said to me “Give her the name Lo-ruhamah, [which means ‘not loved],’ because I will no longer [show that I] love the people [MET] of Israel, and I will not forgive them [for the sins that they have committed].

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.

But I will [show that I] love the people [MTY] of Judah [by saving them from their enemies]. However, it will not be by weapons and armies or horses and chariots that I will save them. Instead, it will be by [the power that I], Yahweh their God, [have].”

8 Now when she had weaned Lo-ruchamah, she conceived, and bore a son.

After Gomer had (weaned/stopped breast-feeding) Lo-ruhamah, she became pregnant again, and she gave birth to another 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].

Yahweh said “Give him the name Lo-ammi, [which means 'not my people', ] because the people of Israel are no [longer my people], and I am not their 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.

But [some day] the people of Israel will be [as numerous] as [SIM] the [grains of] sand on the seashore; no one will be able to count them. Now [I] am saying to them, ‘You are not my people,’ but then people will say to them, ‘[You are the] children of God who is all-powerful.’

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.

[At that time], the people of Judah and the people of Israel will unite. They will appoint one leader for all of them, and they will return from the countries [to which they have been (exiled/forced to go)]. That will be a great time; Jezreel [also means ‘God plants’, and it will be as though God will plant them in this country again].”