Hosea 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Hosea in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Hosea son of Beeri and this chapter is about the symbol of Israel's condition in their present dispersion, subsequent to their return from Babylon. It is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. Text The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 5 verses. Textual witnesses Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q78 (4QXIIc; 75–50 BCE) with extant verses 2–4; and 4Q82 (4QXIIg; 25 BCE) with extant verses 1–5. There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century). Verse 1 Then the Lord said to me, "Go, again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just as the Lord loves the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love raisin cakes." "A woman": presumed to be Gomer, who apparently (from this verse) had left Hosea, and was at that time living in adultery with another man ("a lover"). Unlike in Hosea 1:2 ("take a wife"), here Hosea it told to "love" her, that is, to 'renew his conjugal kindness to her'. The statement in the last part of this verse reflects the words of two verses in the Book of Deuteronomy: Deuteronomy 7:8: "Because the Lord loved you" (cf. ) Deuteronomy 31:18, "They are turned to other gods." "Raisin cakes" (KJV: flagons of wine): that is, "cakes of grapes" or "dried raisins"; these cakes were used in idolatry (; ). Verse 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley "Bought": from Hebrew root , , "to trade, get by trade"; may be in the sense of "hiring" as rendered by the Septuagint and Arabic versions (cf. Acts 28:30),