Chapter 3
Hosea and His Wife Reunited 1 Again the Lord said to me:
Go, love a woman
who is loved by her spouse but commits adultery;
Just as the Lord loves the Israelites,
though they turn to other gods
and love raisin cakes.
2 So I acquired her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 Then I said to her:
“You will wait for me for many days;
you will not prostitute yourself
Or belong to any man;
I in turn will wait for you.”
4 For the Israelites will remain many days
without king or prince,
Without sacrifice or sacred pillar,
without ephod or household gods.
5 Afterward the Israelites will turn back
and seek the Lord, their God,
and David, their king;
They will come trembling to the Lord
and to his bounty, in the last days.