HOSEA 1 [†]The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri,  a in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of  b Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2[^][†]When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea,  c “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have  d children of whoredom, for  e the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” 3[†]So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

4[†]And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while  f I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and  g I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5[†]And on that day  h I will break the bow of Israel  i in the Valley of Jezreel.”

6[†]She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him,  j “Call her name No Mercy, [1] for  k I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7[†]But  l I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I  m will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

8[†]When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9And the LORD said,  n “Call his name Not My People, [2] for  o you are not my people, and I am not your God.” [3]

10[^][†] [4] Yet  p the number of the children of Israel shall be  q like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered.  r And  s in the place where it was said to them,  o “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them,  t “Children [5] of  u the living God.” 11[†]And  v the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and  w they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.