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Then the Lord said to me, “Go, and get your wife again and bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery. For the Lord still loves Israel though she has turned to other gods and offered them choice gifts.”

So I bought her back from her slavery[a] for a couple of dollars and eight bushels of barley, and I said to her, “You must live alone for many days; do not go out with other men nor be a prostitute, and I will wait for you.”

This illustrates the fact that Israel will be a long time without a king or prince, and without an altar, Temple, priests, or even idols!

Afterward they will return to the Lord their God and to the Messiah, their King,[b] and they shall come trembling, submissive to the Lord and to his blessings in the end times.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 3:2 back from her slavery, implied.
  2. Hosea 3:5 to the Messiah, their King, literally, “to David, their king.” Christ was “the Greater David.”

Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife

The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.(A) Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.(B)

So I bought her for fifteen shekels[a] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[b] of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”

For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince,(C) without sacrifice(D) or sacred stones,(E) without ephod(F) or household gods.(G) Afterward the Israelites will return and seek(H) the Lord their God and David their king.(I) They will come trembling(J) to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.(K)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
  2. Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.