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

However, in the future I will allure her; ¹  I will lead ²  her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

Although they bring their flocks and herds ¹  to seek ²  the favor of the Lord, ³  They will not find him – he has withdrawn himself from them!

Ephraim will be oppressed, ¹  crushed ²  under judgment, ³  because he was determined to pursue worthless idols. ⁴ 

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.

“Come on! Let’s return to the Lord! He himself has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us! He has injured ¹  us, but he will bandage our wounds!

Ephraim has been like a dove, easily deceived and lacking discernment. They called to Egypt for help; they turned to Assyria for protection.

I will throw my bird net over them while they are flying, I will bring them down like birds in the sky; I will discipline them when I hear them flocking together.

But the more I summoned ¹  them, the farther they departed from me. ²  They sacrificed to the Baal idols and burned incense to images.

He will roar like a lion, and they will follow the Lord; when he roars, his children will come trembling ¹  from the west.

Therefore they will disappear like ¹  the morning mist, ²  like early morning dew that evaporates, ³  like chaff that is blown away ⁴  from a threshing floor, like smoke that disappears through an open window.

His young shoots will grow; his splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

For their mother has committed adultery; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, “I will seek out ¹  my lovers; ²  they are the ones who give me my bread and my water, my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine. 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!

What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, O Judah? For ¹  your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; ²  it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew! ³ 

Look! ¹  Even if ²  they flee from the destruction, Egypt will take hold ³  of them, and Memphis will bury them. The weeds will inherit the silver they treasure ⁴  – thorn bushes will occupy their homes. ⁵ 

Who is wise? Let him discern ¹  these things! Who is discerning? Let him understand them! For the ways of the Lord are right; the godly walk in them, but in them the rebellious stumble.

When the Lord first spoke ¹  through ²  Hosea, he ³  said to him, ⁴  “Go marry ⁵  a prostitute ⁶  who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, ⁷  because the nation ⁸  continually commits spiritual prostitution ⁹  by turning away from the Lord.”

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 punish her for the festival days when she burned incense to the Baal idols; ¹  she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but ²  she forgot me!” ³  says the Lord.