Dual Panel1The LORD gave these messages to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
2When the LORD first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, "Go and marry a prostitute, so some of her children will be born to you from other men. This will illustrate the way my people have been untrue to me, openly committing adultery against the LORD by worshiping other gods."
3So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.
4And the LORD said, "Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel.
5In fact, I will put an end to Israel’s independence by breaking its military power in the Jezreel Valley."
6Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to Hosea, "Name your daughter Lo–ruhamah––‘Not loved’––for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.
7But I, the LORD their God, will show love to the people of Judah. I will personally free them from their enemies without any help from weapons or armies."
8After Gomer had weaned Lo–ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son.
9And the LORD said, "Name him Lo–ammi––‘Not my people’––for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.
10Yet the time will come when Israel will prosper and become a great nation. In that day its people will be like the sands of the seashore––too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’
11Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite under one leader, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be––the day of Jezreel ––when God will again plant his people in his land.