Hosea 1:1-11

Here is YAHWEH’s message that came through the prophet Hosea son of Beeri. At that time, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ruled as kings of Judah, and Jeroboam the son of Joash was king in Israel. This is the beginning of what YAHWEH spoke through Hosea. YAHWEH said to me, “Go and marry an adulterous woman and have children of adultery because the people of the land are adulterers. They have forsaken me.” So I married a woman named Gomer, Diblaim’s daughter. She became pregnant and bore a son. YAHWEH said to me, “Name him Jezreel because it will not be long before I punish the dynasty of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel and then destroy the kingdom of Israel. At that time, I will smash Israel’s military power in the Valley of Jezreel.” Later, Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. YAHWEH said to me: “Name her No-Tender-Mercy because I will no longer have tender mercy on the nation of Israel. I will certainly not forgive them. I will, however, have compassion on the nation of Judah. “I will rescue them! I will not give them victory through their weapons and military might. It will not be their horsemen and chariots that deliver them. I, YAHWEH their God, will save them!” After Gomer weaned her daughter, No-Tender-Mercy, she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. Then YAHWEH said to me, “Name him Not-My-People because you, Israel, are not mine anymore, and I am not yours.” Yet someday, the number of the people of Israel will become as innumerable as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted. Although God named them Not-My-People, he will restore them and call them Children of the Living God. The divided people of Judah and Israel will reunite. They will appoint themselves one head and will once again cover the land like grass that sprouts from the ground. How great will be the day when the meaning of Jezreel’s name is fulfilled: God sows!