[1:2] When the Lord first spoke to Israel through Hosea, he said to Hosea, “Go and get married; your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be just like her. In the same way my people have left me and become unfaithful.”
[1:3] So Hosea married a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. After the birth of their first child, a son,
[1:4] the Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel. I am going to put an end to Jehu's dynasty.
[1:5] And in Jezreel Valley I will at that time destroy Israel's military power.”
[1:6] Gomer had a second child—this time it was a daughter. The Lord said to Hosea, “Name her ‘Unloved,’ because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.
[1:7] But to the people of Judah I will show love. I, the Lord their God, will save them, but I will not do it by war—with swords or bows and arrows or with horses and horsemen.”
[1:8] After Gomer had weaned her daughter, she became pregnant again and had another son.
[1:9] The Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Not-My-People,’ because the people of Israel are not my people, and I am not their God.”