Hosea 1:1-5 ▼

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

2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and have children of [her] prostitution; for the land commits great acts of prostitution by not following 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, “Name him Jezreel; for yet in a little while I will avenge the blood [that was shed in the Valley] of Jezreel and inflict the punishment for it on the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

5 On that day I will break the bow [of the military power] of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”