Hosea 2

1 “Say to your brothers, ‘My people!’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one!’

Call ye your brothers, 'Ammi [[my people]]; and your sisters, Ruchamah [[That hath obtained mercy]].

2 Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Contend with your mother, contend; for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; but let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts:

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

Lest I strip her naked, and set her, as on the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and render her like a dry land, and let her die with thirst.

4 Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy, for they are children of unfaithfulness.

And upon her children will I not have mercy; for they are children of prostitution;

5 For their mother has played the prostitute. 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 hath played the harlot; she that conceived them hath done shamefully; 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.

6 Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she cannot find her way.

Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will close it up with a fence, that she shall not find her paths.

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

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

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

But she indeed did not acknowledge, that it was I that had given her the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and multiplied for her silver and gold, which they devoted for Ba'al.

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

Therefore will I turn back, and take away my corn in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will snatch away my wool and my flax, [given] to cover her nakedness.

10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of my hand.

And now will I lay open her disgrace before the eyes of her lovers, and no man shall deliver her out of my hand.

11 I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

And I will cause to cease all her mirth, her festival, her new-moon, and her sabbath, and all her appointed feasts.

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

And I will make desolate her vine and her fig-tree, whereof she hath said, These are my reward which my lovers have given me: and I will change them into a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them.

13 I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers and forgot me,” says the LORD.

And I will visit upon her the days of the Be'alim, to which she used to burn incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and me she forgot, saith the Lord.

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

Therefore, behold, will I allure her, and lead her forth into the wilderness, and I will speak comfortingly unto her heart.

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

And I will give her [again] her vineyards from there, and the valley of 'Achor [[sorrow]] as an entrance for hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as on the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.

16 It will be in that day,” says the LORD, “that you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer call me ‘my master.’

And it shall happen at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi [[my husband]], and shalt not call me any more Ba'ali [[my lord]].

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

For I will remove the names of the Be'alim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name.

18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.

And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and bow, and sword, and war I will break away out of the land, and I will cause them to lie down in safety.

19 I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.

And I will betroth thee unto me for ever: yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in justice, and in loving-kindness, and in mercy.

20 I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.

And I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord.

21 It will happen in that day, that I will respond,” says the LORD. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;

And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will answer prayer, saith the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth;

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

And the earth shall answer the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall answer Yizre'el.

23 I 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, ‘You are My God!’”

And I will sow her for me in the land; and I will have mercy upon “Her that had not obtained mercy” [[Lo-ruchamah]]; and I will say to those who were “Not my people” [[Lo-'ammi]], Thou art my people: and they shall say, Thou art my God.