Hosea 3 (LSB)

Chapter Text

3:1 Then Yahweh said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her companion and is an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

3:2 So I bargained for her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley.

3:3 Then I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you.”

3:4 For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.

3:5 Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek Yahweh their God and David their king; and they will come in dread to Yahweh and to His goodness in the last days.

Study Lenses

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

The local LSB text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "yahweh" and "said" 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 "yahweh" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.