The city of Jerusalem once followed the Lord, but she is no longer loyal to him. She used to be filled with fairness; people there lived the way God wanted. But now, murderers live there.
“How can you say to me, ‘I am not guilty. I have not worshiped the Baal idols’? Look at the things you did in the valley. Think about what you have done. You are like a she-camel in mating season that runs from place to place.
Why are you crying out about your injury? There is no cure for your pain. I did these things to you because of your great guilt, because of your many sins.
He said, “Human, I am sending you to the people of Israel. That nation has turned against me and broken away from me. They and their ancestors have sinned against me until this very day.
Men from Babylon and all Babylonia and men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa will attack you. All the Assyrians will attack you: handsome young captains and lieutenants, all of them important men and all riding horses.
When the Lord began speaking through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, and marry an unfaithful woman and have unfaithful children, because the people in this country have been completely unfaithful to the Lord.”
“My people ask wooden idols for advice; they ask those sticks of wood to advise them! Like prostitutes, they have chased after other gods and have left their own God.
This is what the Lord says: “For the many crimes of Judah, I will punish them. They rejected the teachings of the Lord and did not keep his commands; they followed the same gods as their ancestors had followed.
