When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, he said to him, "Go marry a prostitute who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, because the nation continually commits spiritual prostitution by turning away from the Lord."

And he will go and take Gomer, daughter of Diblaim; and she will conceive and bring forth to him a son.

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.

And it shall come to pass, in that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the vale of Jezreel.

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;

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.

And she will wean the Not being compassionated, and she will conceive and bring forth a son.

Then said he, Call his name Lo-ammi, - for ye are Lo-ammi "No people of mine" , and, I, will not be yours.

Despite this, the number of the people of Israel will be like ocean sand, which can neither be measured nor counted. And the time will come when instead of it being said, "You are not my people,' it will be said, "You are children of the living God.'

And the people of Judah and the people of Israel will be united as one. They will appoint for themselves a single leader and will take dominion over the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

Then you will call your brother, "My People" (Ammi)! You will call your sister, "Pity" (Ruhamah)!

Otherwise, I will strip her naked, and expose her like she was when she was born. I will turn her land into a wilderness and make her country a parched land, so that I might kill her with thirst.

And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.

For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

Therefore, behold me! hedging up her way, with thorns, - and I will wall her in, and, her footpaths, shall she not find.

And, when she shall pursue her lovers, and not overtake them, and shall seek them and not find, then will she say, Let me go my way now! and return unto my first husband, for it was better with me, then, than, now!

Therefore, will I again take away my corn, in the time thereof, and my new wine, in the season thereof, - and will recover my wool and my flax given to hide her shame.

Now, therefore, will I expose her unseemliness, before the eyes of her lovers, - and no, man, shall deliver her out of my hand!

And I will cause to cease all her mirth, her pilgrim-festival, her new moon and her sabbath, - and her every appointed meeting;

And will lay waste her vine and her fig- tree, as to which she hath said, A present, are they for myself, which my lovers, have given me, - and I will make of them a thicket, and the wild beasts of the field shall devour them.

So will I visit upon her the days of the Baals, unto whom she used to burn incense, and decked herself with her nose-ring and her jewelry, and went her way after her lovers, - whereas, me, she forgat, Declareth Yahweh.

Therefore, lo! I, am going to persuade her, and, though I conduct her forth into wilderness, yet will I speak unto her heart.

Then will I give to her her vineyards from thence, and the vale of Achor for a door of hope, - and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

And it shall come to pass, in that day, Declareth Yahweh, that she will call me Ishi, and will not call me any more, Baali.

So will I take away the names of the Baals, out of her mouth, - and they shall not be called to mind any more, by their name.

And I will solemnize to them a covenant, in that day, with the wild-beast of the field, and with the bird of the heavens, and the creeping thing of the ground, - and, bow and sword and battle, will I break in pieces out of the land, so will I cause them to lie down, in security.

And I will take thee unto myself, unto times age-abiding, - yea I will take thee unto myself, in righteousness and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in abounding compassion:

Yea I will take thee unto myself, in faithfulness, - So shalt thou know Yahweh.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will respond, Declareth Yahweh, I will respond to the heavens, - and, they, shall respond to the earth;

The earth will respond with grain, new wine, and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

So will I sow her unto me in the land, and will have compassion upon the uncompassionated one, - and will say to him who was No-people-of-mine, My people, thou art, and, he, shall say, My God!

And Jehovah will say to me, Yet go, love a woman loving evil and an adulteress, as Jehovah loves the sons of Israel, and they took to other gods and love raisin-cakes.

and I said unto her, Many days, shalt thou tarry for me, thou shalt not be unchaste, neither shalt thou become another man's, - moreover also, I, will tarry for thee.

Likewise, the people of Israel will dwell a long time without a king, without a prince, without sacrifice, without sacred pillars, and with neither ephod nor teraphim.

Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the last days.

For this cause, shall the land mourn, and everyone who dwelleth therein shall languish, with the wild beast of the field and with the bird of the heavens, - moreover also, the fishes of the sea, shall be withdrawn.

Yet is there none, that will chasten nor reprove another. The priests which should reform other men, are become like the people.

So you will stumble during the day, the prophet also will stumble with you at night, and I will destroy your mother.

My people, are destroyed, for lack of knowledge, - Because, thou, hast rejected knowledge, therefore will I reject thee from ministering as priest unto me, and, because thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also, will forget thy children.

"The more they increased in number, the more they sinned against me, so I will change their glory into shame.

They will eat up the sin of my people, and they will lift up their soul to their iniquity.

So doth it come to be - like people, like priest, - therefore will I visit upon him his ways, and, his doings, will I bring back to him;

They will eat, but will not be satisfied. They will engage in prostitution, but they won't increase, because they have stopped listening to the LORD.

Fornication and wine and new wine will take away the heart.

My people will ask in their counsel, and with their rod they will announce to them: for the spirit of fornications caused to err, and they will commit fornication from under their God.

Upon the heads of the mountains they will sacrifice, and upon the hills they will burn incense, under the oak and the white poplar and the terebinth, because its shadow was good: for this your daughters will commit fornication, and your brides shall commit adultery.

I do not bring punishment upon your daughters when they become unchaste, nor upon your brides, when they commit adultery, for, the men themselves, with unchaste women, do seclude themselves, and, with the common women of the shrine, do offer sacrifice, - and, a people who will not discern, must be ruined.

For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn mule! Nevertheless, will not the LORD feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?

A wind storm will carry them away in its embrace, and their sacrifices will bring them shame."

O ye priests, hear this; take heed, O thou household of Israel; give ear, O thou kingly house. For this punishment will come upon you, that are become a snare unto Mizphah, and a spread net unto the mount of Tabor.

Those who revolt are knee-deep in slaughter, but I will discipline them all.

Their doings, will not suffer, them to return unto their God, - for, the spirit of unchastity, is within them, and, Yahweh, have they not known.

Therefore will the Excellency of Israel, answer, to his face, - and, Israel and Ephraim, shall stumble in their iniquity, even Judah with them, hath stumbled.

With their flocks and with their herds, will they go to seek Yahweh, but shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

They have been unfaithful to the LORD, having raised unbelieving children. In the coming month they will be devoured, along with their fields.

Ephraim will be desolate when it is rebuked. I have made known among the tribes of Israel what will surely come about.

The rulers of Judah have become as they who remove a land-mark. Upon them, will I pour out, like water, my wrath.

Ephraim will be oppressed, crushed under judgment, because he was determined to pursue worthless idols.

Therefore I will consume Ephraim like a moth, and the house of Judah as rottenness consumes.

When Ephraim, saw, his injury, and Judah his wound, then went Ephraim unto Assyria, and Judah sent unto a hostile king, - yet, he, cannot heal you, nor will the wound, remove from you.

For, I, will be as a lion unto Ephraim, and as a young lion to the house of Judah, - I, I, will tear in pieces, and depart, I will carry off, and none be able to rescue.

I will depart, will return unto my place! till what time they acknowledge their guilt, and seek my face, - In their trouble, will they make for me diligent search.

"Come, let us return to the LORD; even though he has torn us, he will heal us. Even though he has wounded us, he will bind our wounds.

He will bring us to life, after two days, - on the third day, will he raise us up, that we may live before him.

Let us know, let us pursue knowledge of the LORD; his coming is as certain as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.

What will I do with you, Ephraim? What will I do with you, Judah? Your love [is] like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early in the morning.

Therefore, I will certainly cut you into pieces at the hands of the prophets; I will certainly kill you in fulfillment of my oracles of judgment; for my judgment will come forth like the light of the dawn.

And, like liers in wait for a man, in troops, is a band of priests, on the road, will they murder towards Shechem, - because, a shameful deed, they have done.

Judah too! a harvest is appointed for thee, - in that I will bring back the captivity of my people.

As I healed to Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, and the evils of Shomeron: for they did falsehood, and the thief will come in, and the troop invaded without

And they will not say to their heart, I remembered all their evil: now their doings surrounded them; they were before my face.

By their evil they will gladden the king, and the chiefs by their falsehoods.

All of them committing adultery, as an oven set on fire from baking; he will cease from raising from kneading the dough till its leavening.

For they have stirred up themselves like an oven as they lie in ambush. Their baker sleeps through the night; in the morning, the oven will be blazing like a fire.

Ephraim will mingle himself among my people; Ephraim was a cake not turned.

Strangers have devoured his strength, yet he regardeth it not: he waxeth full of gray hairs, yet will he not know it.

And the pride of Israel is cast down before their face, yet will they not turn to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.

And Ephraim will be as an enticed dove, not a heart: they called Egypt, they went to Assur.

Whithersoever they go, I will spread over them my net, like a bird of the heavens, will I bring them down, I will chastise them, by the time the report can reach the flock of them.

Wo! to them, for they fled from me: destruction to them because they transgressed against me: and I will redeem them and they spake falsehoods against me.

They will not cry to me from their heart instead, they wail on their beds. They gather together to eat and drink, turning away from me.

And I corrected and strengthened their arms, and they will purpose evil against me.

They return but not to the Most High. They are like a defective weapon. Their princes will fall by the sword because of their raging tongue, and they will be a laughingstock in the land of Egypt."

"Sound the ram's horn! Like a vulture the enemy will come against the Temple of the LORD, because Israel violated my covenant, transgressing my Law.

Then they will cry out to Me,
“My God, we of Israel know You!”

"Israel has discarded what is good. The enemy will pursue them.

They set kings in place, but not by me. They established princes, whom I did not recognize. They crafted idols for themselves from their silver and gold; as a result, they will be destroyed.

Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?

Because from Israel it was fashioned by craftsmen, it is not God; therefore Samaria's calf will be broken in pieces.

"Because they sow the wind, they will reap the wind storm. The plant has no stalk and its bud yields no grain. Even if there's a harvest, foreigners will gobble it up.

Israel has been devoured; now they will live among the nations like a worthless container.

For, they, have gone up to Assyria, A wild ass going alone for himself, is Ephraim! They have hired lovers!

Even though they hire them among the nations, at once, will I gather them, when they have begun to be diminished by reason of the burden of the king of rulers.

"The more altars Ephraim builds for sin, the more altars there will be for sin.

I will write to him his multitude of my instructions; they were reckoned as a strange thing.

My sacrificial gifts, have they been sacrificing as common flesh, and have eaten, Yahweh, hath not accepted them, - Now, will he call to mind their iniquity, that he may punish their sin, they, to Egypt, will return.

And so Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and hath built temples, and, Judah, hath multiplied fortified cities, - Therefore will I send a fire upon his cities, and it shall consume the palaces thereof.

Threshing-floor and wine-vat, will not feed them, and, new wine, will deny them.

They will not live in the LORD's land Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.

They won't present wine offerings to the LORD, nor will they please him. Their sacrifices will seem like food for mourners everyone who eats them will become unclean; none of them will enter the Temple of the LORD.