When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him,“ Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”

耶和华初次与何西阿说话，对他说：“你去娶淫妇为妻，也收那从淫乱所生的儿女；因为这地大行淫乱，离弃耶和华。”

耶和华初次向何西阿说话。耶和华对他说：“你去娶一个淫荡的女子为妻，收那从淫乱所生的儿女；因为这地行大淫乱，离弃耶和华。”

耶和华初次向何西阿说话。耶和华对他说：“你去娶一个淫荡的女子为妻，收那从淫乱所生的儿女；因为这地行大淫乱，离弃耶和华。”

耶和华首次向何西阿说话时，对他说：“你去娶一个妓女为妻，和她生养儿女，因为这片土地上的人极其淫乱，背弃了耶和华。”

耶和华初次藉着何西阿说话。耶和华对何西阿说：“你去娶一个像娼妓一样的女人，生养像娼妓一样的儿女，因为这地盛行淫乱，离开了耶和华。”

耶和華初次與何西阿說話，對他說：「你去娶淫婦為妻，也收那從淫亂所生的兒女；因為這地大行淫亂，離棄耶和華。」

耶和華初次向何西阿說話。耶和華對他說：「你去娶一個淫蕩的女子為妻，收那從淫亂所生的兒女；因為這地行大淫亂，離棄耶和華。」

耶和華初次向何西阿說話。耶和華對他說：「你去娶一個淫蕩的女子為妻，收那從淫亂所生的兒女；因為這地行大淫亂，離棄耶和華。」

耶和華首次向何西阿說話時，對他說：「你去娶一個妓女為妻，和她生養兒女，因為這片土地上的人極其淫亂，背棄了耶和華。」

耶和華初次藉著何西阿說話。耶和華對何西阿說：“你去娶一個像娼妓一樣的女人，生養像娼妓一樣的兒女，因為這地盛行淫亂，離開了耶和華。”

永恆主開始同何西阿講話，對何西阿說：『你去，娶淫婦為妻，收取淫亂生的兒女；因為這地大行淫亂、離棄了永恆主。』

耶和華初諭何西阿時、謂之曰、爾往娶淫婦、得其由淫而生之子、蓋斯土行淫特甚、離棄耶和華、

耶和華首告何西曰、斯土之民、狥其私欲、違逆乎我、爾娶淫婦而生子、人必被其子以惡名、

主初與何西阿言諭之曰、爾往娶淫婦為妻、生子、人疑為由淫所生、人疑為由淫所生或作被人藐視因淫婦所生以指斯地之民、如淫婦棄主、不復從之、如淫婦棄主不復從之或作棄主而從邪淫

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him,“ Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”

The Lord began to speak through Hosea. He said to him,“ Go. Marry a woman who has sex with anyone she wants. Have children with her. Do this because the people of the land are like that kind of wife. They have not been faithful to me.”

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea,“ Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”

When the LORD first spoke to Hosea, he said this to him: Go and marry a woman of promiscuity, and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the LORD.

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea,“ Go, take for yourself a wife inclined to infidelity, and children of infidelity; for the land commits flagrant infidelity, abandoning the Lord.”

When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea:“ Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the Lord.”

When Jehovah spake at the first by Hosea, Jehovah said unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom; for the land doth commit great whoredom, departing from Jehovah.

When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him: Go and marry a promiscuous wife and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord.

The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom,[ departing] from the LORD.

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.”

When Yahweh spoke at first by Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea,“ Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking Yahweh.”

Then the Lord said to me,“ Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.”

And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said,‘ I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’

The Lord said to Moses,“ You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them.

Israel treated it all so lightly— she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted.

They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.

One of the seven angels who had poured out the seven bowls came over and spoke to me.“ Come with me,” he said,“ and I will show you the judgment that is going to come on the great prostitute, who rules over many waters.The kings of the world have committed adultery with her, and the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality.”

This message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, once there were two sisters who were daughters of the same mother.They became prostitutes in Egypt. Even as young girls, they allowed men to fondle their breasts.The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. I married them, and they bore me sons and daughters. I am speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem, for Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.“ Then Oholah lusted after other lovers instead of me, and she gave her love to the Assyrian officers.They were all attractive young men, captains and commanders dressed in handsome blue, charioteers driving their horses.And so she prostituted herself with the most desirable men of Assyria, worshiping their idols and defiling herself.For when she left Egypt, she did not leave her spirit of prostitution behind. She was still as lewd as in her youth, when the Egyptians slept with her, fondled her breasts, and used her as a prostitute.“ And so I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers, whom she desired so much.They stripped her, took away her children as their slaves, and then killed her. After she received her punishment, her reputation was known to every woman in the land.“ Yet even though Oholibah saw what had happened to Oholah, her sister, she followed right in her footsteps. And she was even more depraved, abandoning herself to her lust and prostitution.She fawned over all the Assyrian officers— those captains and commanders in handsome uniforms, those charioteers driving their horses— all of them attractive young men.I saw the way she was going, defiling herself just like her older sister.“ Then she carried her prostitution even further. She fell in love with pictures that were painted on a wall— pictures of Babylonian military officers, outfitted in striking red uniforms.Handsome belts encircled their waists, and flowing turbans crowned their heads. They were dressed like chariot officers from the land of Babylonia.When she saw these paintings, she longed to give herself to them, so she sent messengers to Babylonia to invite them to come to her.So they came and committed adultery with her, defiling her in the bed of love. After being defiled, however, she rejected them in disgust.“ In the same way, I became disgusted with Oholibah and rejected her, just as I had rejected her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to satisfy their lusts.Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt.She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse.And so, Oholibah, you relived your former days as a young girl in Egypt, when you first allowed your breasts to be fondled.“ Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will send your lovers against you from every direction— those very nations from which you turned away in disgust.For the Babylonians will come with all the Chaldeans from Pekod and Shoa and Koa. And all the Assyrians will come with them— handsome young captains, commanders, chariot officers, and other high ranking officers, all riding their horses.They will all come against you from the north with chariots, wagons, and a great army prepared for attack. They will take up positions on every side, surrounding you with men armed with shields and helmets. And I will hand you over to them for punishment so they can do with you as they please.I will turn my jealous anger against you, and they will deal harshly with you. They will cut off your nose and ears, and any survivors will then be slaughtered by the sword. Your children will be taken away as captives, and everything that is left will be burned.They will strip you of your beautiful clothes and jewels.In this way, I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you brought from Egypt. You will never again cast longing eyes on those things or fondly remember your time in Egypt.“ For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will surely hand you over to your enemies, to those you loathe, those you rejected.They will treat you with hatred and rob you of all you own, leaving you stark naked. The shame of your prostitution will be exposed to all the world.You brought all this on yourself by prostituting yourself to other nations, defiling yourself with all their idols.Because you have followed in your sister’s footsteps, I will force you to drink the same cup of terror she drank.“ Yes, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:“ You will drink from your sister’s cup of terror, a cup that is large and deep. It is filled to the brim with scorn and derision.Drunkenness and anguish will fill you, for your cup is filled to the brim with distress and desolation, the same cup your sister Samaria drank.You will drain that cup of terror to the very bottom. Then you will smash it to pieces and beat your breast in anguish. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!“ And because you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You must bear the consequences of all your lewdness and prostitution.”The Lord said to me,“ Son of man, you must accuse Oholah and Oholibah of all their detestable sins.They have committed both adultery and murder— adultery by worshiping idols and murder by burning as sacrifices the children they bore to me.Furthermore, they have defiled my Temple and violated my Sabbath day!On the very day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they boldly came into my Temple to worship! They came in and defiled my house.“ You sisters sent messengers to distant lands to get men. Then when they arrived, you bathed yourselves, painted your eyelids, and put on your finest jewels for them.You sat with them on a beautifully embroidered couch and put my incense and my special oil on a table that was spread before you.From your room came the sound of many men carousing. They were lustful men and drunkards from the wilderness, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your heads.Then I said,‘ If they really want to have sex with old worn out prostitutes like these, let them!’And that is what they did. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, these shameless prostitutes.But righteous people will judge these sister cities for what they really are— adulterers and murderers.“ Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring an army against them and hand them over to be terrorized and plundered.For their enemies will stone them and kill them with swords. They will butcher their sons and daughters and burn their homes.In this way, I will put an end to lewdness and idolatry in the land, and my judgment will be a warning to all women not to follow your wicked example.You will be fully repaid for all your prostitution— your worship of idols. Yes, you will suffer the full penalty. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”

“ You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them.Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods.

Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their detestable sins.

They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.

A mysterious name was written on her forehead:“ Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.”

I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled.

This is what the Lord said to me:“ Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.”So I bought the loincloth as the Lord directed me, and I put it on.Then the Lord gave me another message:“ Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.”So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord had instructed me.A long time afterward the Lord said to me,“ Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.”So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing.Then I received this message from the Lord:“ This is what the Lord says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth— good for nothing!As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory— an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.

Then another message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins.Give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth.No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.“ But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said,‘ Live!’And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked.And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.“ Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin.I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather.I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces,a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head.And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods— choice flour, honey, and olive oil— and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were!Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord.“ But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking.You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen?You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me!You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them.Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign Lord.“ Then you took your sons and daughters— the children you had borne to me— and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough?Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols?In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.“ What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness,you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square.On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution.Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity.That is why I struck you with my fist and reduced your boundaries. I handed you over to your enemies, the Philistines, and even they were shocked by your lewd conduct.You have prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, too. It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied.You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia, the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.“ What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign Lord, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute.You build your pagan shrines on every street corner and your altars to idols in every square. In fact, you have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment.Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband.Prostitutes charge for their services— but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you.So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you!“ Therefore, you prostitute, listen to this message from the Lord!This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you have poured out your lust and exposed yourself in prostitution to all your lovers, and because you have worshiped detestable idols, and because you have slaughtered your children as sacrifices to your gods,this is what I am going to do. I will gather together all your allies— the lovers with whom you have sinned, both those you loved and those you hated— and I will strip you naked in front of them so they can stare at you.I will punish you for your murder and adultery. I will cover you with blood in my jealous fury.Then I will give you to these many nations who are your lovers, and they will destroy you. They will knock down your pagan shrines and the altars to your idols. They will strip you and take your beautiful jewels, leaving you stark naked.They will band together in a mob to stone you and cut you up with swords.They will burn your homes and punish you in front of many women. I will stop your prostitution and end your payments to your many lovers.“ Then at last my fury against you will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore.But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign Lord. For you have added lewd acts to all your detestable sins.Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you,‘ Like mother, like daughter.’For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and so do you. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.“ Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south.But you have not merely sinned as they did. You quickly surpassed them in corruption.As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters.Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.“ Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more detestable things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you.Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.“ But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too.Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison.Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored.In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt.But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned— by Edom and all her neighbors and by Philistia.This is your punishment for all your lewdness and detestable sins, says the Lord.“ Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant.Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant.And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord.You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

“ And now, son of man, take a large clay brick and set it down in front of you. Then draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it.Show the city under siege. Build a wall around it so no one can escape. Set up the enemy camp, and surround the city with siege ramps and battering rams.Then take an iron griddle and place it between you and the city. Turn toward the city and demonstrate how harsh the siege will be against Jerusalem. This will be a warning to the people of Israel.“ Now lie on your left side and place the sins of Israel on yourself. You are to bear their sins for the number of days you lie there on your side.I am requiring you to bear Israel’s sins for 390 days— one day for each year of their sin.

This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began

“ If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?” says the Lord.“ Look at the shrines on every hilltop. Is there any place you have not been defiled by your adultery with other gods? You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a customer. You sit alone like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and your wickedness.That’s why even the spring rains have failed. For you are a brazen prostitute and completely shameless.Yet you say to me,‘ Father, you have been my guide since my youth.

“ For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!

the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz,“ Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.” Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot.Then the Lord said,“ My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign— a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.

Instead, you have been as evil as the kings of Israel. You have led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship idols, just as King Ahab did in Israel. And you have even killed your own brothers, men who were better than you.

Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you.