Hosea 2

1 Say ye to your brothers, Ammi, and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’

2 Contend with your mother. Contend, for she is not my wife, nor am I her husband. And let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts,

Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.

3 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 kill her with thirst.

Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst.

4 Yea, I will have no mercy upon her sons, for they are sons of whoredom,

I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.

5 for their mother has played the harlot. She who conceived them has done shamefully, for she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.

For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’

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

Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.

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

She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband, for then I was better off than now.’

8 For she did not know that I gave her the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold— which they crafted for Baal.

9 Therefore I will take back my grain in the time of it, and my new wine in the season of it, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.

10 And now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.

11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her appointed feasts.

12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, These are my hire that my lovers have given me. And I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers. So I will make them into a thicket, and the beasts of the field will devour them.

13 And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, to which she burned incense when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says Jehovah.

I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,”

14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak soothingly to her.

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.

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

There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

16 And it shall be at that day, says Jehovah, that thou shall call me Ishi, and shall no more call me Baali.

In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’

17 For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name.

For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.

18 And in that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely.

On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.

19 And I will betroth thee to me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in justice, and in loving kindness, and in mercies.

So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.

20 I will even betroth thee to me in faithfulness, and thou shall know Jehovah.

And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will answer, says Jehovah. I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth,

“On that day I will respond—” declares the LORD— “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth.

22 and the earth shall answer the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel.

And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

23 And I will sow her to me in the earth. And I will have mercy upon her who had not obtained mercy. And I will say to those who were not my people, Thou are my people, and they shall say, My God.

And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”