When Yahweh first spoke through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking Yahweh.”

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and gave birth to a son for him.

And Yahweh said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will visit the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.

Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And Yahweh said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.

Then she weaned Lo-ruhamah. And she conceived and gave birth to a son.

Lest I strip her naked And set her forth as on the day when she was born And make her like a wilderness And make her like dry land And put her to death with thirst.

Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns, And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.

And I will make desolate her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘These are my wages Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field will devour them.

Then I will give her her vineyards from there And the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

And in that day I will cut a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, The birds of the sky, And the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And I will make them lie down in security.

Then Yahweh said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her companion and is an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

So I bargained for her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley.

Then I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you.”

Listen to the word of Yahweh, O sons of Israel, For Yahweh has a contention against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no truth or lovingkindness Or knowledge of God in the land.

Harlotry, wine, and new wine take away a heart of wisdom.

My people ask their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand declares to them; For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, And they have played the harlot, departing from their God.

Since Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn heifer, Can Yahweh now feed them Like a lamb in a large field?

Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you, For you have been a snare at Mizpah And a net spread out on Tabor.

Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, And they do not know Yahweh.

Blow the horn in Gibeah, The trumpet in Ramah. Make a loud shout at Beth-aven: “Behind you, Benjamin!”

Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of reproof; Among the tribes of Israel I will make known what is true.

The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary; On them I will pour out My wrath like water.

Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

For I will be like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away; I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your lovingkindness is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early.

Gilead is a city of workers of iniquity, With a track of blood.

And as raiders wait for a man, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they have committed lewdness.