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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).
Hosea 3-4
King James Version
Hosea 3-4
King James Version
3 Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.
2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.
4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.
11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.
15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The Lord liveth.
16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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