Hosea 1:2

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

When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”

³ So Hosea went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

⁴ Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”
KJV: 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.
WEB: When the LORD spoke at first by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking the LORD.”
ASV: 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.
DARBY: The beginning of the word of Jehovah through Hosea. And Jehovah said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms; for the land is entirely given up to whoredom, away from Jehovah.
BLB: The beginning when YHWH [first] spoke by Hosea, YHWH said to Hosea, “Go take for yourself a wife of prostitution, and children of prostitution, for the land is flagrantly prostituting itself from after YHWH!”

ÅB: Da Herren begynte å tale til Hoseas, sa Herren til ham: Gå og få deg en horkvinne og horebarn! For landet driver hor og følger ikke mere Herren.
OTB: Da Herren begynte å tale gjennom Hosea, sa Han til ham: “Gå, ta deg en hustru av utroskap og få barn av utroskap, for landet er skyldig i troløshet ved å vende seg bort fra Herren.”
B1930: Da Herren begynte å tale til Hoseas, sa Herren til ham: Gå og få dig en horkvinne og horebarn! For landet driver hor og følger ikke mere Herren.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Hosea 2:4–5
I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.
Read in context
Hosea 3:1
Then the LORD said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and offer raisin cakes to idols.”
Read in context
Deuteronomy 31:16
And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.
Read in context
Psalms 106:39
They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
Read in context
Jeremiah 3:9
Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
Read in context
Exodus 34:15–16
Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.
Read in context
2 Peter 2:14
Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.
Read in context
Ezekiel 6:9
Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations.
Read in context