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¶ Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

Contend with your mother, contend: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore remove her whoredoms from her face and her adulteries from between her breasts;

lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day that she was born and make her as a wilderness and set her like a dry land and slay her with thirst.

Neither will I have mercy upon her sons, for they are the sons of whoredoms.

For their mother has played the harlot; she that conceived them has been shamed; for she said, I will go after my lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.

¶ Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns and make a wall that she shall not find her paths.

And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them; then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better with me than now.

For she did not recognize that I gave her the wheat and the wine and the oil and multiplied unto them the silver and the gold, with which they made Baal.

Therefore I will return and take away my wheat in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and will recover my wool and my flax that I had given to cover her nakedness.

10 And now I will uncover her folly in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her out of my hand.

11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast, her new moon, and her sabbath, and all her festivities.

12 And I will cause her vine and her fig tree to be cut down, of which she has said, These are my wages that my lovers have given me; and I will reduce them to a thicket, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13 And I will visit upon her the times of the Baals, unto whom she burned incense, and she adorned herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, oblivious of me, saith the LORD.

14 ¶ Therefore, behold, I will induce her and bring her into the wilderness and speak unto her heart.

15 And I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

16 And it shall be in that time, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me My Husband, and shalt no longer call me Baali.

17 For I will take away the names of Baals out of her mouth, and they shall no longer be remembered by their name.

18 And in that time I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of the heaven and with the serpents of the earth; and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle of the earth and will cause them to sleep safely.

19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in mercy.

20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faith: and thou shalt know the LORD.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will respond, saith the LORD, I will respond to the heavens, and they shall respond to the earth;

22 and the earth shall respond to the wheat and the wine and the oil; and they shall respond to Jezreel.

23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon Loruhamah, {her that had not obtained mercy} and I will say to Loammi, {those who were not my people} Thou art my people; and he shall say, Thou art my God.

[a]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’(A)

Israel Punished and Restored

“Rebuke your mother,(B) rebuke her,
    for she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous(C) look from her face
    and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
Otherwise I will strip(D) her naked
    and make her as bare as on the day she was born;(E)
I will make her like a desert,(F)
    turn her into a parched land,
    and slay her with thirst.
I will not show my love to her children,(G)
    because they are the children of adultery.(H)
Their mother has been unfaithful
    and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(I)
    who give me my food and my water,
    my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(J)
Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
    I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.(K)
She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
    she will look for them but not find them.(L)
Then she will say,
    ‘I will go back to my husband(M) as at first,(N)
    for then I was better off(O) than now.’
She has not acknowledged(P) that I was the one
    who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,(Q)
who lavished on her the silver and gold(R)
    which they used for Baal.(S)

“Therefore I will take away my grain(T) when it ripens,
    and my new wine(U) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
    intended to cover her naked body.
10 So now I will expose(V) her lewdness
    before the eyes of her lovers;(W)
    no one will take her out of my hands.(X)
11 I will stop(Y) all her celebrations:(Z)
    her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
    her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.(AA)
12 I will ruin her vines(AB) and her fig trees,(AC)
    which she said were her pay from her lovers;(AD)
I will make them a thicket,(AE)
    and wild animals will devour them.(AF)
13 I will punish her for the days
    she burned incense(AG) to the Baals;(AH)
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,(AI)
    and went after her lovers,(AJ)
    but me she forgot,(AK)
declares the Lord.(AL)

14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
    I will lead her into the wilderness(AM)
    and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
    and will make the Valley of Achor[b](AN) a door of hope.
There she will respond[c](AO) as in the days of her youth,(AP)
    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(AQ)

16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;(AR)
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.[d]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(AS)
    no longer will their names be invoked.(AT)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
    with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
    and the creatures that move along the ground.(AU)
Bow and sword and battle
    I will abolish(AV) from the land,
    so that all may lie down in safety.(AW)
19 I will betroth(AX) you to me forever;
    I will betroth you in[e] righteousness and justice,(AY)
    in[f] love and compassion.(AZ)
20 I will betroth you in[g] faithfulness,
    and you will acknowledge(BA) the Lord.(BB)

21 “In that day I will respond,”
    declares the Lord
“I will respond(BC) to the skies,
    and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
    the new wine and the olive oil,(BD)
    and they will respond to Jezreel.[h](BE)
23 I will plant(BF) her for myself in the land;
    I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[i](BG)
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[j]’ ‘You are my people’;(BH)
    and they will say, ‘You are my God.(BI)’”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.
  2. Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
  3. Hosea 2:15 Or sing
  4. Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
  5. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  6. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  7. Hosea 2:20 Or with
  8. Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
  9. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
  10. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)