Hosea 1-5; Psalms 122 - Prayer Tents

1The Lord gave this message 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.H1697H3068H1954H1121H882H3117H5818H3147H271H3169H4428H3063H3117H3379H1121H3101H4428H3478

Hosea’s Wife and Children

2When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”H8462H1696H3068H1954H3068H559H1954H3212H3947H802H2183H3206H2183H776H2181H2181H310H3068 3So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.H3212H3947H1586H1323H1691H2029H3205H1121 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. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence.H3068H559H7121H8034H3157H4592H6485H1818H3157H1004H3058H7673H4468H1004H3478 5I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”H3117H7665H7198H3478H6010H3157 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.H2029H3205H1323H559H7121H8034H3819H3254H7355H1004H3478H5375H5375 7But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.”H7355H1004H3063H3467H3068H430H3467H7198H2719H4421H5483H6571 8After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son.H1580H3819H2029H3205H1121 9And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.H559H7121H8034H3818H5971 10“Yet the time will come when Israel’s 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.’H4557H1121H3478H2344H3220H4058H5608H4725H559H5971H559H1121H2416H410 11Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, 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.H1121H3063H1121H3478H6908H3162H7760H259H7218H5927H776H1419H3117H3157

2“In that day you will call your brothers Ammi—‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah—‘The ones I love.’H559H251H5971H269H7355

Charges against an Unfaithful Wife

2“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother—for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts.H7378H517H7378H802H376H5493H2183H6440H5005H7699 3Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness.H6584H6174H3322H3117H3205H7760H4057H7896H6723H776H4191H6772 4And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.H7355H1121H1121H2183 5Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’H517H2181H2029H3001H559H3212H310H157H5414H3899H4325H6785H6593H8081H8250 6“For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way.H7753H1870H5518H1443H1447H4672H5410 7When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’H7291H157H5381H1245H4672H559H3212H7725H7223H376H2896H6258 8She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has—the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.H3045H5414H1715H8492H3323H7235H3701H2091H6213H1168 9“But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness.H7725H3947H1715H6256H8492H4150H5337H6785H6593H3680H6172 10I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands.H1540H5040H5869H157H376H5337H3027 11I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.H4885H7673H2282H2320H7676H4150 12I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees, things she claims her lovers gave her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit.H8074H1612H8384H559H866H157H5414H7760H3293H2416H7704H398 13I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the Lord.H6485H3117H1168H6999H5710H5141H2484H3212H310H157H7911H5002H3068

The Lord’s Love for Unfaithful Israel

14“But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.H6601H3212H4057H1696H3820 15I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.H5414H3754H6010H5911H6607H8615H6030H3117H5271H3117H5927H776H4714 16When that day comes,” says the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’H3117H5002H3068H7121H376H7121H1180 17O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again.H5493H8034H1168H6310H2142H8034 18On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety.H3117H3772H1285H2416H7704H5775H8064H7431H127H7665H7198H2719H4421H776H7901H983 19I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.H781H5769H781H6664H4941H2617H7356 20I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.H781H530H3045H3068 21“In that day, I will answer,” says the Lord. “I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain.H3117H6030H5002H3068H6030H8064H6030H776 22Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’H776H6030H1715H8492H3323H6030H3157 23At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”H2232H776H7355H7355H3818H559H5971H5971H559H430

Hosea’s Wife Is Redeemed

3Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.”H559H3068H3212H157H802H157H7453H5003H160H3068H1121H3478H6437H312H430H157H809H6025 2So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.H3739H6240H2568H3701H2563H8184H3963H8184 3Then I said to her, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me.”H559H3427H7227H3117H2181H1961H376 4This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!H1121H3478H3427H7227H3117H4428H8269H2077H4676H646H8655 5But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to David’s descendant, their king. In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the Lord and of his goodness.H310H1121H3478H7725H1245H3068H430H1732H4428H6342H3068H2898H319H3117

The Lord’s Case against Israel

4Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.H8085H1697H3068H1121H3478H3068H7379H3427H776H571H2617H1847H430H776 2You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere—one murder after another.H422H3584H7523H1589H5003H6555H1818H5060H1818 3That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.H776H56H3427H535H2416H7704H5775H8064H1709H3220H622 4“Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you.H376H7378H3198H376H5971H7378H3548 5So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother.H3782H3117H5030H3782H3915H1820H517 6My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.H5971H1820H1847H3988H1847H3988H3547H7911H8451H430H7911H1121 7The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols.H7230H2398H4171H3519H7036 8“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin!H398H2403H5971H5375H5315H5771 9‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’ So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds.H5971H3548H6485H1870H7725H4611 10They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the LordH398H7646H2181H6555H5800H8104H3068 11to worship other gods. “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding.H2184H3196H8492H3947H3820 12They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.H5971H7592H6086H4731H5046H7307H2183H8582H2181H430 13They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.H2076H7218H2022H6999H1389H437H3839H424H6738H2896H1323H2181H3618H5003 14But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes. O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed.H6485H1323H2181H3618H5003H6504H2181H2076H6948H5971H995H3832 15“Though you, Israel, are a prostitute, may Judah avoid such guilt. Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, even though they take oaths there in the Lord’s name.H3478H2181H3063H816H935H1537H5927H1007H7650H3068H2416 16Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture?H3478H5637H5637H6510H3068H7462H3532H4800 17Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry.H669H2266H6091H3240 18When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor.H5435H5493H2181H2181H4043H7036H157H3051 19So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.H7307H6887H3671H954H2077

The Failure of Israel’s Leaders

5“Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel. Listen, you members of the royal family. Judgment has been handed down against you. For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.H8085H3548H7181H1004H3478H238H1004H4428H4941H6341H4709H7568H6566H8396 2You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove. But I will settle with you for what you have done.H7846H6009H7819H4148 3I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled.H3045H669H3478H3582H669H2181H3478H2930 4Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the Lord.H5414H4611H7725H430H7307H2183H7130H3045H3068 5“The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them.H1347H3478H6030H6440H3478H669H3782H5771H3063H3782 6When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the Lord, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them.H3212H6629H1241H1245H3068H4672H2502 7They have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.H898H3068H3205H2114H1121H2320H398H2506 8“Sound the alarm in Gibeah! Blow the trumpet in Ramah! Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven! Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!H8628H7782H1390H2689H7414H7321H1007H310H1144 9One thing is certain, Israel: On your day of punishment, you will become a heap of rubble.H669H8047H3117H8433H7626H3478H3045H539 10“The leaders of Judah have become like thieves. So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall.H8269H3063H5253H1366H8210H5678H4325 11The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols.H669H6231H7533H4941H2974H1980H310H6673 12I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.H669H6211H1004H3063H7538 13“When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria—to the great king there—but he could neither help nor cure them.H669H7200H2483H3063H4205H3212H669H804H7971H4428H3377H7378H3201H7495H1455H4205 14I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them.H669H7826H3715H1004H3063H2963H3212H5375H5337 15Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.”H3212H7725H4725H816H1245H6440H6862H7836