Add parallel Print Page Options

Hosea and the Unfaithful Woman

The Lord said to me, “Go again[a] and show your love for a woman who is committing adultery with a lover. You must love her just as I still love the people of Israel, even though they turn to other gods and like to take offerings of raisins to idols.”[b]

So I paid fifteen pieces of silver and seven bushels of barley to buy her. I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her. In just this way the people of Israel will have to live for a long time without kings or leaders, without sacrifices or sacred stone pillars, without idols or images to use for divination. But the time will come when the people of Israel will once again turn to the Lord their God and to a descendant of David their king. Then they will fear the Lord and will receive his good gifts.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 3:1 The Lord … again; or The Lord spoke to me again. He said, “Go …”
  2. Hosea 3:1 Dried grapes were used in the worship of fertility gods, who were believed to give abundant harvests to their worshipers.

Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife

The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.(A) Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.(B)

So I bought her for fifteen shekels[a] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[b] of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”

For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince,(C) without sacrifice(D) or sacred stones,(E) without ephod(F) or household gods.(G) Afterward the Israelites will return and seek(H) the Lord their God and David their king.(I) They will come trembling(J) to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.(K)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
  2. Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.