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Hosea 3-4
Contemporary English Version
Hosea 3-4
Contemporary English Version
God's Love Offers Hope
3 Once again the Lord spoke to me. And this time he said, “Hosea, fall in love with an unfaithful woman[a] who has a lover. Do this to show that I love the people of Israel, even though they worship idols and enjoy the offering cakes made with fruit.”
2 So I paid 15 pieces of silver and about 150 kilograms of grain for such a woman. 3 Then I said, “Now you are mine! You will have to remain faithful to me, though it will be a long time before we sleep together.”
4 It will also be a long time before Israel has a king or before sacrifices are offered at the temple or before there is any way to get guidance from God. 5 But later, Israel will turn back to the Lord their God and to David their king. At that time they will come to the Lord with fear and trembling, and he will be good to them.
Israel Is Unfaithful
4 Israel, listen
as the Lord accuses
everyone in the land!
No one is faithful or loyal
or truly cares about God.
2 Cursing, dishonesty, murder,
robbery, unfaithfulness—
these happen all the time.
Violence is everywhere.
3 And so your land is a desert.
Every living creature is dying—
people and wild animals,
birds and fish.
The Lord Warns the Priests
4 Don't accuse just anyone!
Not everyone is at fault.
My case is against you,
the priests.[b]
5 You and the prophets
will stumble day and night;
I'll silence your mothers.
6 You priests have rejected me,
and my people are destroyed
by refusing to obey.
Now I'll reject you and forget
your children, because you
have forgotten my Law.
7 By adding more of you priests,
you multiply the number
of people who sin.
Now I'll change your pride
into shame.
8 You encourage others to sin,
so you can stuff yourselves
on their sin offerings.
9 That's why I will punish
the people for their deeds,
just as I will punish
you priests.
10 Their food won't satisfy,
and having sex at pagan shrines
won't produce children.
My people have rebelled
11 and have been unfaithful
to me, their Lord.
God Condemns Israel's Idolatry
My people, you are foolish
because of too much pleasure
and too much wine.
12 You expect wooden idols
and other objects of wood
to give you advice.
Lusting for sex at pagan shrines
has made you unfaithful
to me, your God.
13 You offer sacrifices
on mountaintops and hills,
under oak trees, and wherever
good shade is found.
Your own daughters
and daughters-in-law
sell themselves for sex.
14 But I won't punish them.
You men are to blame,
because you go to prostitutes
and offer sacrifices with them
at pagan shrines.
Your own foolishness
will lead to your ruin.
15 Israel, you are unfaithful,
but don't lead Judah to sin.
Stop worshiping at Gilgal
or at sinful Bethel.[c]
And quit making promises
in my name—the name
of the living Lord.
16 You are nothing more
than a stubborn cow—
so stubborn that I, the Lord,
cannot feed you like lambs
in an open pasture.
17 You people of Israel[d]
are charmed by[e] idols.
Leave those people alone!
18 You get drunk, then sleep
with prostitutes;
you would rather be vulgar
than lead a decent life.[f]
19 And so you will be swept away[g]
in a whirlwind
for sacrificing to idols.
Footnotes
- 3.1 unfaithful woman: This may refer to Gomer, the woman Hosea married (see 1.3), or it may refer to another woman.
- 4.4 priests: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 4. Hosea may have had in mind only one priest, possibly the chief priest.
- 4.15 sinful Bethel: The Hebrew text has “Beth-Aven,” which means “house of sin” or “house of nothing,” referring to “Bethel,” which means “house of God.”
- 4.17 Israel: The Hebrew text has “Ephraim,” the leading tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel, which sometimes stands for the whole kingdom.
- 4.17 charmed by: Or “joined to.”
- 4.18 life: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18.
- 4.19 And so … swept away: Or “And so you will be ashamed.”
Hosea 3-4
New International Version
Hosea 3-4
New International Version
Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife
3 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)”
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels[a] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[b] of barley. 3 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.”
4 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) 5 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)
The Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge(L) to bring
against you who live in the land:(M)
“There is no faithfulness,(N) no love,
no acknowledgment(O) of God in the land.(P)
2 There is only cursing,[c] lying(Q) and murder,(R)
stealing(S) and adultery;(T)
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.(U)
3 Because of this the land dries up,(V)
and all who live in it waste away;(W)
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.(X)
4 “But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.(Y)
5 You stumble(Z) day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother(AA)—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(AB)
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(AC) of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God[d](AD) for something disgraceful.(AE)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.(AF)
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.(AG)
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.(AH)
10 “They will eat but not have enough;(AI)
they will engage in prostitution(AJ) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(AK) the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(AL)
old wine(AM) and new wine
take away their understanding.(AN)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,(AO)
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.(AP)
A spirit of prostitution(AQ) leads them astray;(AR)
they are unfaithful(AS) to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,(AT) poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.(AU)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution(AV)
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.(AW)
14 “I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots(AX)
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(AY)—
a people without understanding(AZ) will come to ruin!(BA)
15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;(BB)
do not go up to Beth Aven.[e](BC)
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’(BD)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,(BE)
like a stubborn heifer.(BF)
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs(BG) in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind(BH) will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.(BI)
Footnotes
- Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
- Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.
- Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on
- Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory
- Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
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