< 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.
This is the word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, 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 the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”
3 So he went and took Gomer, daughter of Diblaim, —and she conceived and bare him a son.
So Hosea went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a 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.
Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to 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.
And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
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;
Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.
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.
Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.”
8 And, when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
After she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a 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.
And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your 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!
Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
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.
Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land. For great will be the day of Jezreel.