Hosea
Hosea was a prophet who ministered to the northern kingdom of Israel during the reigns of several kings, calling the people to repent and return to God.
Hosea son of Beeri was a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel during the eighth century BCE, active from the reign of Jeroboam II through the Assyrian crisis (Hosea 1:1). God commanded him to marry a promiscuous woman named Gomer, whose unfaithfulness became a living parable of Israel's spiritual adultery in abandoning the Lord for Baal. His book is the first of the twelve Minor Prophets and is remarkable for its tender portrayal of God's anguished love for a wayward people, combining fierce judgment with passionate promises of restoration: 'I will betroth you to me forever' (Hosea 2:19). Paul cites Hosea 1:10 and 2:23 in Romans 9:25–26 to affirm the calling of the Gentiles, and Hosea 6:6 ('I desire steadfast love, not sacrifice') is quoted twice by Jesus in Matthew's Gospel (9:13; 12:7).