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Hosea Buys a Wife

¹ The Lord said to me again, "Go, show your love to a woman loved by someone else, who has been unfaithful to you. In the same way the Lord loves the people of Israel, even though they worship other gods and love to eat the raisin cakes."^[a]

² So I bought her for six ounces of silver and ten bushels of barley. ³ Then I told her, "You must wait for me for many days. You must not be a prostitute, and you must not have sexual relations with any other man. I will act the same way toward you."

⁴ In the same way Israel will live many days without a king or leader, without sacrifices or holy stone pillars, and without the holy vest or an idol. ⁵ After this, the people of Israel will return to the Lord their God and follow him and the king from David's family. In the last days they will turn in fear to the Lord, and he will bless them.