as He also says in Hosea: “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’ ”
Parallel translations
- WEB As he says also in Hosea, “I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people; and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.”
- KJV As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
- BSB As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,”
- NKJV As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.”
- NLT Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea, “Those who were not my people, I will now call my people. And I will love those whom I did not love before.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Quoting Hosea, Paul shows God calling those who were not his people his people, and the unloved his beloved. God mercifully embraces those once outside the covenant.
Overview
To prove the calling of the Gentiles (v. 24), Paul cites Hosea 2:23. Though Hosea originally spoke of restoring unfaithful Israel, Paul applies the principle to Gentiles, who were not God's people and now become his beloved through the gospel. This demonstrates God's pattern of mercy toward outsiders and confirms that the worldwide reach of salvation was foretold in Scripture.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Hos 2:23I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘My God!’”
- 1 Pet 2:10who in time past were no people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
- Ezek 16:8“‘“Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you,” says the Lord Yahweh, “and you became mine.
- John 16:27for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God.
- Rom 1:7to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Hos 1:1–2Yahweh’s word that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 9:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.