Passage
He said, “Call his name Lo-Ammi; for you are not my people, and I will not be yours.
Hosea 1:9 (WEB)
Nearby Context
Hosea 1:7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”
Hosea 1:8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son.
Hosea 1:9 He said, “Call his name Lo-Ammi; for you are not my people, and I will not be yours.
Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured or counted; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
Hosea 1:11 The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Jezreel.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "said", "call", "name", "lo-ammi", "people", and "yours". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "call", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 8's "Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah she..." into verse 10's "Yet the number of the children of...", so "said" and "call" belong inside that flow. 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 "call" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.