So he went out and married Diblaim's daughter Gomer. She conceived with him and gave birth to a son.

The LORD told Hosea, "Name the child "Jezreel,' because in a little while I'll avenge the blood that was shed by Jehu's dynasty at Jezreel. I'll put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived again and gave birth to a son,

"Call your mother to account, call her for she is not my wife, and I'm not her husband. Let her do away with her seductive looks and remove her adultery from between her breasts.

Otherwise, I'll strip her naked as she was on the day she was born make her like a wilderness, turn her into a parched land, and cause her to die of thirst.

Indeed, their mother has committed prostitution the one who has been conceiving them has acted disgracefully when she said, "I'm going after my lovers, who provide me food and water, as well as my wool, my flax, my oil, and my wine.'

"Look how I'm blocking her path with thorns and building a wall to hinder her, so she can't find her way.

She will pursue her lovers, but she won't catch up with them. She will seek them, but she won't find them. Then she will say, "I'll go back and return to my first husband, because it was better for me then than now.'

She didn't recognize that it was I who provided her grain, wine, and oil, and it was I who gave her silver, while they crafted gold for Baal.

I'll destroy her vines and her fig trees, about which she said, "These are the earnings that my lovers paid me. I'll make them grow into a forest, and the wild animals will eat from them.'

I'll punish her for the time she has devoted to the Baals, to whom she burned incense, and for whom she put on her earrings and jewels so she could go after her lovers and forget me," declares the LORD.

There I will restore her vineyards to her, and the Valley of Achor will become a doorway to hope. There she will respond as she did in her youth, when she came up from Egypt."

Then the LORD told me: "Go love your wife again, even though she is being loved by another and is committing adultery. Love her the same way the LORD loves the people of Israel, even though they look to other gods and love raisin cakes."

Samaria will be held guilty, because she has rebelled against her God. By the sword they will fall with their infants dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women torn open."