However, in the future I will allure her; I will lead her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

They utter empty words, taking false oaths and making empty agreements. Therefore legal disputes sprout up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a plowed field.

I spoke to the prophets; I myself revealed many visions; I spoke in parables through the prophets.”

When Ephraim spoke, there was terror; he was exalted in Israel, but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.

Woe to them! For they have fled from me! Destruction to them! For they have rebelled against me! I want to deliver them, but they have lied to me.

He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him!

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, he said to him, “Go marry a prostitute who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, because the nation continually commits spiritual prostitution by turning away from the Lord.”