Hosea 1

1 The word of Yahweh which came unto Hosea son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, —and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, 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 Yahweh with Hosea, was, —that Yahweh said unto Hosea, Go take thee a woman of unchastity, and the children of unchastity, for, unchastely indeed, hath the land been going away from following Yahweh.

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, daughter of Diblaim, —and she conceived and bare him a son.

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

4 Then said Yahweh unto him, Call his name Jezreel: for, yet a little, and I will visit the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and 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, in that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the vale of Jezreel.

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

6 Then conceived she again and bare a daughter, and he said to him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah ["Uncompassionated"], —for, not again any more, will I have compassion upon the house of Israel, that I should, forgive, them;

[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, on the house of Judah, will I have compassion, and I will save them, as Yahweh their God, —but will not save them by bow, or by 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 And, when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare 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 ["No people of mine"], —for ye are Lo-ammi ["No people of mine"], and, I, will not be yours.

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 sons of Israel become like the sand of the sea, which can neither he measured, nor numbered, —and it shall come to pass, in the place where it used to be said to them, No people of mine, are ye, it shall be said to them, Sons of a 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 sons of Judah and the sons of Israel, gather themselves together, as one, and shall appoint them one head, and come up out of the earth, —for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

[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].”