Then I will return again to my lair until they have suffered their punishment. ¹  Then they will seek me; ²  in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch ¹  them; she will seek them, but she will not find them. ²  Then she will say, “I will go back ³  to my husband, ⁴  because I was better off then than I am now.” ⁵ 

I will commit myself to you in faithfulness; then ¹  you will acknowledge ²  the Lord.” ³ 

Then you will call ¹  your ²  brother, “My People” (Ammi)! You will call your sister, “Pity” (Ruhamah)!

They consume their alcohol, then engage in cult prostitution; they dearly love their shameful behavior.

So Hosea married ¹  Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son for him.

Then the Lord ¹  said: “Name him ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), because you ²  are not my people and I am not your ³  God.” ⁴ 

then the ground will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil; and they will respond to ‘God Plants’ (Jezreel)! ¹ 

When Ephraim saw ¹  his sickness and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim turned ²  to Assyria, and begged ³  its great king ⁴  for help. But he will not be able to heal you! He cannot cure your wound! ⁵ 

Jacob fled to the country of Aram, then Israel worked ¹  to acquire a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her.

Then the people ¹  of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, ²  and will flourish in the land. ³  Certainly, ⁴  the day of Jezreel will be great!

Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or have sexual intercourse with ¹  another man, and I also will wait for you.”

Even though they have hired lovers among the nations, ¹  I will soon gather them together for judgment. ²  Then ³  they will begin to waste away under the oppression of a mighty king. ⁴ 

Where ¹  then is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are ²  your rulers for whom you asked, saying, “Give me a king and princes”?

Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. ¹  Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings ²  in the future. ³ 

I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear them to pieces, then I will carry them off, and no one will be able to rescue them!

She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord ¹  said to him, “Name her ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) because I will no longer have pity ²  on the nation ³  of Israel. For ⁴  I will certainly not forgive ⁵  their guilt. ⁶ 

Then the Lord said to Hosea, ¹  “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because in a little while I will punish ²  the dynasty ³  of Jehu on account of the bloodshed ⁴  in the valley of Jezreel, ⁵  and I will put an end to the kingdom ⁶  of Israel. ⁷ 

The high places of the “House ¹  of Wickedness” ²  will be destroyed; it is the place where Israel sins. Thorns and thistles will grow up over its altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

Then I will plant her as my own ¹  in the land. I will have pity on ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah). I will say to ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), ‘You are my people!’ And he ²  will say, ‘You are ³  my God!’”