Naaman Is Cured

¹Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, was highly respected and esteemed by the king of Syria, because through Naaman the Lord had given victory to the Syrian forces. He was a great soldier, but he suffered from a dreaded skin disease.

²In one of their raids against Israel, the Syrians had carried off a little Israelite girl, who became a servant of Naaman's wife.

³One day she said to her mistress, “I wish that my master could go to the prophet who lives in Samaria! He would cure him of his disease.”

⁴When Naaman heard of this, he went to the king and told him what the girl had said.

⁵The king said, “Go to the king of Israel and take this letter to him.” So Naaman set out, taking thirty thousand pieces of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of fine clothes.

⁶The letter that he took read: “This letter will introduce my officer Naaman. I want you to cure him of his disease.”

⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and exclaimed, “How can the king of Syria expect me to cure this man? Does he think that I am God, with the power of life and death? It's plain that he is trying to start a quarrel with me!”

⁸When the prophet Elisha heard what had happened, he sent word to the king: “Why are you so upset? Send the man to me, and I'll show him that there is a prophet in Israel!”

⁹So Naaman went with his horses and chariot and stopped at the entrance to Elisha's house.

¹⁰Elisha sent a servant out to tell him to go and wash himself seven times in the Jordan River, and he would be completely cured of his disease.

¹¹But Naaman left in a rage, saying, “I thought that he would at least come out to me, pray to the Lord his God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and cure me!

¹²Besides, aren't the rivers Abana and Pharpar, back in Damascus, better than any river in Israel? I could have washed in them and been cured!”

¹³His servants went up to him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. Now why can't you just wash yourself, as he said, and be cured?”

¹⁴So Naaman went down to the Jordan, dipped himself in it seven times, as Elisha had instructed, and he was completely cured. His flesh became firm and healthy like that of a child.

¹⁵He returned to Elisha with all his men and said, “Now I know that there is no god but the God of Israel; so please, sir, accept a gift from me.”

¹⁶Elisha answered, “By the living Lord, whom I serve, I swear that I will not accept a gift.” Naaman insisted that he accept it, but he would not.

¹⁷So Naaman said, “If you won't accept my gift, then let me have two mule-loads of earth to take home with me, because from now on I will not offer sacrifices or burnt offerings to any god except the Lord.

¹⁸So I hope that the Lord will forgive me when I accompany my king to the temple of Rimmon, the god of Syria, and worship him. Surely the Lord will forgive me!”

¹⁹“Go in peace,” Elisha said. And Naaman left. He had gone only a short distance,

²⁰when Elisha's servant Gehazi said to himself, “My master has let Naaman get away without paying a thing! He should have accepted what that Syrian offered him. By the living Lord I will run after him and get something from him.”

²¹So he set off after Naaman. When Naaman saw a man running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him, and asked, “Is something wrong?”

²²“No,” Gehazi answered. “But my master sent me to tell you that just now two members of the group of prophets in the hill country of Ephraim arrived, and he would like you to give them three thousand pieces of silver and two changes of fine clothes.”

²³“Please take six thousand pieces of silver,” Naaman replied. He insisted on it, tied up the silver in two bags, gave them and two changes of fine clothes to two of his servants, and sent them on ahead of Gehazi.

²⁴When they reached the hill where Elisha lived, Gehazi took the two bags and carried them into the house. Then he sent Naaman's servants back.

²⁵He went back into the house, and Elisha asked him, “Where have you been?” “Oh, nowhere, sir,” he answered.

²⁶But Elisha said, “Wasn't I there in spirit when the man got out of his chariot to meet you? This is no time to accept money and clothes, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, or servants!

²⁷And now Naaman's disease will come upon you, and you and your descendants will have it forever!” When Gehazi left, he had the disease—his skin was as white as snow.

¹This is the message which the Lord gave Hosea son of Beeri during the time that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

Hosea's Wife and Children

²When the Lord first spoke to Israel through Hosea, he said to Hosea, “Go and get married; your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be just like her. In the same way my people have left me and become unfaithful.”

³So Hosea married a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. After the birth of their first child, a son,

⁴the Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel. I am going to put an end to Jehu's dynasty.

⁵And in Jezreel Valley I will at that time destroy Israel's military power.”

⁶Gomer had a second child—this time it was a daughter. The Lord said to Hosea, “Name her ‘Unloved,’ because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.

⁷But to the people of Judah I will show love. I, the Lord their God, will save them, but I will not do it by war—with swords or bows and arrows or with horses and horsemen.”

⁸After Gomer had weaned her daughter, she became pregnant again and had another son.

⁹The Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Not-My-People,’ because the people of Israel are not my people, and I am not their God.”

Israel Is to Be Restored

¹⁰The people of Israel will become like the sand of the sea, more than can be counted or measured. Now God says to them, “You are not my people,” but the day is coming when he will say to them, “You are the children of the living God!”

¹¹The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited. They will choose for themselves a single leader, and once again they will grow and prosper in their land. Yes, the day of Jezreel will be a great day!

¹So call your fellow Israelites “God's People” and “Loved-by-the-Lord.”

Unfaithful Gomer—Unfaithful Israel

²My children, plead with your mother—though she is no longer a wife to me, and I am no longer her husband. Plead with her to stop her adultery and prostitution.

³If she does not, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will make her like a dry and barren land, and she will die of thirst.

^4-5I will not show mercy to her children; they are the children of a shameless prostitute. She herself said, “I will go to my lovers—they give me food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine.”

⁶So I am going to fence her in with thorn bushes and build a wall to block her way.

⁷She will run after her lovers but will not catch them. She will look for them but will not find them. Then she will say, “I am going back to my first husband—I was better off then than I am now.”

⁸She would never acknowledge that I am the one who gave her the grain, the wine, the olive oil, and all the silver and gold that she used in the worship of Baal.

⁹So at harvest time I will take back my gifts of grain and wine, and will take away the wool and the linen I gave her for clothing.

¹⁰I will strip her naked in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to save her from my power.

¹¹I will put an end to all her festivities—her annual and monthly festivals and her Sabbath celebrations—all her religious meetings.

¹²I will destroy her grapevines and her fig trees, which she said her lovers gave her for serving them. I will turn her vineyards and orchards into a wilderness; wild animals will destroy them.

¹³I will punish her for the times that she forgot me, when she burned incense to Baal and put on her jewelry to go chasing after her lovers. The Lord has spoken.

The Lord's Love for His People

¹⁴So I am going to take her into the desert again; there I will win her back with words of love.

¹⁵I will give back to her the vineyards she had and make Trouble Valley a door of hope. She will respond to me there as she did when she was young, when she came from Egypt.

¹⁶Then once again she will call me her husband—she will no longer call me her Baal.

¹⁷I will never let her speak the name of Baal again.

¹⁸At that time I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and birds, so that they will not harm my people. I will also remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, and will let my people live in peace and safety.

¹⁹Israel, I will make you my wife; I will be true and faithful; I will show you constant love and mercy and make you mine forever.

²⁰I will keep my promise and make you mine, and you will acknowledge me as Lord.

^21-22At that time I will answer the prayers of my people Israel. I will make rain fall on the earth, and the earth will produce grain and grapes and olives.

²³I will establish my people in the land and make them prosper. I will show love to those who were called “Unloved,” and to those who were called “Not-My-People” I will say, “You are my people,” and they will answer, “You are our God.”

Hosea and the Unfaithful Woman

¹The Lord said to me, “Go again and show your love for a woman who is committing adultery with a lover. You must love her just as I still love the people of Israel, even though they turn to other gods and like to take offerings of raisins to idols.”

²So I paid fifteen pieces of silver and seven bushels of barley to buy her.

³I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her.

⁴In just this way the people of Israel will have to live for a long time without kings or leaders, without sacrifices or sacred stone pillars, without idols or images to use for divination.

⁵But the time will come when the people of Israel will once again turn to the Lord their God and to a descendant of David their king. Then they will fear the Lord and will receive his good gifts.

A King's Promise

¹My song is about loyalty and justice, and I sing it to you, O Lord.

²My conduct will be faultless. When will you come to me? I will live a pure life in my house

³and will never tolerate evil. I hate the actions of those who turn away from God; I will have nothing to do with them.

⁴I will not be dishonest and will have no dealings with evil.

⁵I will get rid of anyone who whispers evil things about someone else; I will not tolerate anyone who is proud and arrogant.

⁶I will approve of those who are faithful to God and will let them live in my palace. Those who are completely honest will be allowed to serve me.

⁷No liar will live in my palace; no hypocrite will remain in my presence.

⁸Day after day I will destroy the wicked in our land; I will expel all who are evil from the city of the Lord.