Hosea 3 (KJV)

Chapter Text

3:1 Then 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.

3:2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:

3:3 And 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.

3:4 For 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:

3:5 Afterward 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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "lord", "love", "woman", "beloved", "friend", and "adulteress". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local KJV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "said" and "lord" carries the first interpretive weight. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.