Hosea 3:1-5
Hosea Brings His Wife Back to Himself
The Lord said to me, “Go. Show your love to your wife again. She is loved by another man. And she has committed adultery. But I want you to love her just as I love the people of Israel. They turn to other gods. And they love to offer raisin cakes to Baal and eat them. In spite of that, I love my people.”
So I bought Gomer for six ounces of silver and 430 pounds of barley. Then I told her, “You must wait for me for a long time. You must not be a prostitute. You must not have sex with any man. And I will be faithful to you too.”
So the people of Israel will live for a long time without a king or prince. They won’t have sacrifices or sacred stones. They won’t have sacred linen aprons or statues of family gods. After that, the people of Israel will return to the Lord their God. They will look to him and to a king from the family line of David. In the last days, they will tremble with fear as they come to the Lord. And they will receive his full blessing.
Hosea 4:1-19
The Lord Brings Charges Against Israel
People of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message.
He is bringing charges
against you who live in Israel.
He says, “There is no faithfulness
or love in the land.
No one recognizes me as God.
People curse one another.
They tell lies and commit murder.
They steal and commit adultery.
They break all my laws.
They keep spilling the blood of other people.
That is why the land is drying up.
All those who live in it
are getting weaker and weaker.
The wild animals and the birds in the sky are dying.
So are the fish in the ocean.
“But you priests should not blame the people.
You should not find fault with one another.
After all, your people
could also bring charges against you.
You trip and fall day and night.
And the prophets fall down along with you.
So I will destroy your nation.
She is the one who gave birth to you.
My people are destroyed
because they do not know me.
“You priests have refused to obey me.
So I will refuse to accept you as my priests.
You have not paid any attention to my law.
So I will not let your children be my priests.
The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me.
They have traded their glorious God for that shameful god named Baal.
They live off the sins of my people.
And they want them to keep on sinning.
So here is what I will do.
I will punish people and priests alike.
I will judge them because of their sinful lives.
I will pay them back
for the evil things they have done.
“My people will eat.
But they will not have enough.
They will have sex with prostitutes.
But they will not have any children.
That’s because they have deserted me.
They have sex with prostitutes.
They drink old wine and fresh wine.
Their drinking has destroyed their ability to understand.
My people ask a wooden statue of a god for advice.
They get answers from a stick of wood.
They are as unfaithful as prostitutes.
They are not faithful to their God.
They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops.
They burn offerings on the hills.
They worship under oak, poplar and terebinth trees.
The trees provide plenty of shade.
So your daughters become prostitutes.
And your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
“I will not punish your daughters
when they become prostitutes.
I will not judge your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery.
After all, the men themselves have sex with sinful women.
They offer sacrifices where temple prostitutes earn their living.
People who can’t understand will be destroyed!
“Israel, you are not faithful to me.
But I do not want Judah to become guilty too.
“My people, do not go to Gilgal to offer sacrifices.
Do not go up to Bethel to worship other gods.
When you make a promise, do not say,
‘You can be sure that the Lord is alive.’
The people of Israel are stubborn.
They are as stubborn as a young cow.
So how can I take care of them
like lambs in a meadow?
The people of Ephraim have joined themselves to other gods.
And nothing can be done to help them.
They continue to be unfaithful to me
even when their drinks are gone.
And their rulers love to do shameful things.
A windstorm will blow all of them away.
And their sacrifices will bring shame on them.
Hosea 5:1-15
The Lord Judges Israel
“Listen to me, you priests!
Pay attention, people of Israel!
Listen, you members of the royal family!
Here is my decision against you.
You have been like a trap at Mizpah.
You have been like a net spread out on Mount Tabor.
You refuse to obey me.
You are knee-deep in killing.
So I will punish all of you.
I know all about the people of Ephraim.
What Israel is doing is not hidden from me.
Now they have joined themselves to other gods.
They have made themselves ‘unclean.’
“They can’t return to me
because they have done so many evil things.
In their hearts they long to act like prostitutes.
They do not recognize me as the Lord.
Israel’s pride proves that they are guilty.
The people of Ephraim trip and fall because they have sinned.
Judah falls down along with them.
Israel will come to worship the Lord.
They will bring their animals to offer as sacrifices.
But they will not find him.
He has turned away from them.
They are not faithful to the Lord.
Their children are not his.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,
he will destroy their fields.
“My people, blow trumpets in Gibeah!
Blow horns in Ramah!
Shout the battle cry in Bethel!
Say to the people of Benjamin, ‘Lead on into battle!’
The people of Ephraim will be completely destroyed
when it is time for me to punish them.
They can be sure it will happen.
I am announcing it among their tribes.
Judah’s leaders have stolen some land.
They have moved their borders farther north.
So I will pour out my anger on them
like a flood of water.
Ephraim will soon be crushed.
The Assyrians will stomp all over them.
It will happen because they have made up their minds
to chase after other gods.
I will be like a moth to Ephraim.
I will cause Judah to rot away.
“The people of Ephraim saw how sick they were.
The people of Judah saw that they were wounded.
Then Ephraim turned to Assyria for help.
They sent gifts to the great King Tiglath-Pileser.
But he is not able to make you well.
He can’t heal your wounds.
I will be like a lion to Ephraim.
I will attack Judah like a powerful lion.
I will tear them to pieces.
I will drag them off.
Then I will leave them.
No one will be able to save them.
I will go back to my lion’s den.
I will stay there until they pay the price for their sin.
Then they will turn to me.
They will suffer so much
that they will really want me to help them.”
