Hosea 2

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

Call ye your brethren My-people; and your sisters Pitied.

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 ye with your mother, contend! For she is not my wife, Nor am I her husband; That she put away lewdness from her face, And adultery from her breasts, Lest I strip her naked, And expose her, as when she was born;

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 make her as the desert, and like a parched land, And kill her with thirst.

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

Upon her sons also I will not have pity, For they are the sons of lewdness.

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 been guilty of lewdness; She that bore them hath brought upon herself shame; For she said, I will go after my lovers, Who give me my food and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my strong 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 her way with thorns, And I will enclose her with a wall, So 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.’

When she followeth after her lovers, she shall not overtake them; When she seeketh them, she shall not find them. Then shall she say, I will go back to my former husband, For then it was better with me 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.

For she did not consider that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, And multiplied silver unto her, And gold, of which they made images of Baal.

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 take back my corn in its time, And my new wine in its season, And I will take away my wool and my flax, Which covered 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 reveal her shame before the eyes of her lovers, And none 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 all her joy to cease; Her feasts, and new moons, and sabbaths, And all her festal days.

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.

I will destroy her vines, and her fig-trees, Of which she said, These are my hire, Which my lovers have given me; And I will make them a forest, And the wild beasts shall eat 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.

I will punish her for the days of the Baals, When she burned incense to them, And decked herself with her rings and her jewels, And went after her lovers, And forgot me, saith Jehovah.

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

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, And will lead her to the desert, And will speak kindly to her;

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 thence will I give her her vineyards, And the valley of Achor for a door of hope; And there shall she sing, as in the days of her youth! As in the day when she came up from 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.’

At that time, saith Jehovah, Thou shalt call me, MY HUSBAND; Thou shalt no more call me, MY BAAL;

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 take away the name of the Baals out of her mouth, And their name shall no more be uttered.

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.

At that time will I make for them a covenant With the beasts of the forest, and with the birds of heaven, And with the creeping things of the ground. The bow and the sword and the battle will I break from 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.

I will betroth thee to me forever; Yea, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in justice, And in kindness, and in tender love.

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

Yea, I will betroth thee to me in faithfulness, And thou shalt know Jehovah.

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;

At that time will I hear, saith Jehovah; I will hear the heavens; And they shall hear 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 hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil, And they shall hear Jezreel.

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 plant her for myself in the land; And I will have pity upon her that was called Unpitied; And I will say to them called Not-my-people, Thou art my people; And they shall say, Thou art my God.