Hosea 2

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

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

2 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.

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 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.

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

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

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

5 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.’

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 her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so 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 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.’

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 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.

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; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover 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 And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.

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

And I will cause all her joy to cease; Her feasts, and new moons, and sabbaths, And all her festal days.

12 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.

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 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,”

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 lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.

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

15 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.

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 In that day,” declares the LORD, “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 remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.

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

18 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.

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 So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and 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 And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”

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

21 “On that day I will respond—” declares 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, to the new wine and 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 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.’”

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.