Hosea 3

Then the LORD said to me, "Go again and love a woman who is loved by another man and who is unfaithful. Love her the way the LORD loves the people of Israel, even though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes."

1Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.

NoteThe Hebrew says only "a woman," not "your wife," and the word for "again" can attach either to "go" or to "love"; readers have long disagreed over whether this is Gomer from chapter 1 taken back, or a second woman. The rendering keeps the ambiguity. "Raisin cakes" are pressed cakes of dried grapes, eaten at festivals and offered at shrines; the KJV's "flagons of wine" comes from an old guess at the Hebrew word.

2So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer of barley and a half homer of barley.

2So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:

NoteA shekel was a weight of silver, roughly 11–12 grams, not a coin. Thirty shekels was the standard payment for a slave (Exodus 21:32); fifteen shekels plus the barley would come to about that value. A homer was a dry measure, in principle a donkey's load, very roughly 220 liters or six bushels. The word behind "half homer" (lethech) appears only here in the Hebrew Bible; "half a homer" is the traditional understanding. The verb translated "bought" is not the usual word for purchase and may mean "bargained for" or "acquired."

3And I said to her, "You must stay with me for a long time. You must not sell yourself for sex, and you must not belong to another man. And I will be the same toward you."

3And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.

NoteThe last clause is only three words in Hebrew, "and also I toward you", with no verb. It can mean the speaker will wait for her in the same way, or that he too will refrain from relations with her during the waiting period. Translations differ.

4For the people of Israel will live a long time with no king and no ruler, with no sacrifice and no sacred stone pillar, with no ephod and no household idols.

4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

NoteA "sacred stone pillar" (Hebrew matzevah) was an upright standing stone set up at a place of worship. An "ephod" was a priestly garment; it was also used in seeking answers from God, so the word can stand for consulting an oracle. "Household idols" translates teraphim, small figurines kept in the home and consulted for guidance. The list pairs the machinery of government with the machinery of worship: both are named as gone.

5Afterward the people of Israel will come back. They will look for the LORD their God, and for David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his goodness in the days to come.

5Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.