Hosea 3
KJV
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. 2So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: 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. 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: 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.
Introduction
Hosea 3
God is still by the prophet inculcating the same thing upon this careless people, and much in the same manner as before, by a type or sign, that of the dealings of a husband with an adulterous wife. In this chapter we have, I. The bad character which the people of Israel now had; they were, as is said of the Athenians (Act 17:16), "wholly given to idolatry," (Hos 3:1). II. The low condition which they should be reduced to by their captivity, and the other instances of God's controversy with them (Hos 3:2-4). III. The blessed reformation that should at length be wrought upon them in the latter days (Hos 3:5).
Cross-references: Acts 17:16 · Hos 3:1 · Hos 3:2 · Hos 3:5