Hosea 2

1 “Say to your brothers, ‘You are my people,’ and to your sister, ‘You have obtained mercy.’

[At that time, ] you will say to your fellow-Israeli men, “[You are] God’s people,” and [you will say] to your fellow-Israeli women, “You are ones whom God loves.”

2 Judge your mother, judge: for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove her fornications from before her face and her adulteries from between her breasts.

[Yahweh also said to me], “I want you to accuse the Israeli people. [It is as though] [MET] this nation is your mother, but this nation is [no longer as though it is] [MET] my wife, and it is [no longer as though] [MET] I am its husband. Tell the Israeli people that they must stop [acting like] a prostitute [by worshiping other gods]; they must stop showing by their behavior that they (are unfaithful to/have abandoned) [me] [MET].

3 Otherwise, I may expose her nakedness and set her as on the day of her birth, and I may establish her as a wilderness and set her as an impassable land, and I may execute her with thirst.

If they do not do that, I will not give them [food and] clothes [as a husband should give to his wife]; I will take away those things, and I will cause their nation to become [as deserted] as it was on the day that I [brought their ancestors out of Egypt and caused them to become a nation] [MET]. I will cause their country to be like [SIM] a desert; there will be no rain to water the ground [MET].

4 And I will not have mercy on her sons, for they are the sons of fornications.

I will not pity the people, because they have [abandoned me] as [MET] prostitutes abandon their husbands.

5 For their mother has been fornicating; she who conceived them has been brought to ruin. 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.’

Their parents are like prostitutes [MET]: they have been unfaithful [to me], and they have done [very] disgraceful things. They said, ‘We will run to [our idols/gods] who love us; [they are the ones] who give us food and water and wool and linen and [olive] oil, and [wine to] drink.’

6 Because of this, behold, I will fence in your way with thorns, and I will surround it with a wall, and she will not find her paths.

So [it will be as though] [MET] I am blocking their road with thornbushes, and putting put a wall around them so that they do not know which way to go.

7 And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not obtain them, and she will seek them, but she will not find them, and she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, because it was to some extent better for me then, than it is now.’

They will run to their idols/gods that [they think] love them, but they will not find them. They will search for their false gods, but they will not find them. Then they will say, ‘[Perhaps] we should return to [Yahweh], whom we worshiped previously [MET], because things were better for us then than they are now.’

8 And she did not know that I gave her grain and wine and oil, and that I increased her silver and gold, which they made into Baal.

But they do not realize that I, [Yahweh], am the one who gave them grain and wine and [olive] oil; I am the one who gave them silver and gold which they used to worship Baal.

9 For this reason, I will turn back, and I will take away my grain in its time and my wine in its time, and I will set free my wool and my flax, which had covered her disgrace.

Therefore I will return and take my grain and grapes from them when they are ripe. I will take from them the wool and linen that I gave to them [to make their clothes] [MTY].

10 And now, I will reveal her foolishness by the eyes of her lovers, and no man will rescue her from my hand.

I will show those false gods/idols that what my people are doing is disgusting [MET], and no one will be able to hinder me from [punishing them].

11 And I will cause all her joy to cease: her solemnities, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her feast dates.

I will cause their religious celebrations to cease, the festivals that they celebrate every year and at every new moon and on their (Sabbath days/weekly days of rest). I will cause all their religious celebrations to cease.

12 And I will corrupt her vines and her fig trees, about which she said, ‘These rewards, they are mine, my lovers have given them to me.’ And I will place her in a narrow forest, and the beasts of the field will devour her.

I will destroy [all] their grapevines and fig trees, which they said were what their [idols/gods] who loved them paid them for worshiping those idols. I will cause those places to become a desert, and wild animals will eat the fruit [that remains].

13 And I will inflict on her the days of the Baals, for whom she burned incense, and ornamented herself with earrings and necklace, and went after her lovers, and forgot about me,” says the Lord.

I will punish my people for [all] the times that they burned incense to [honor] the idols of Baal. They decorated themselves with rings and jewelry, and they went to worship those [false gods/idols] that [they thought] [IRO] loved them, but they abandoned/forgot me! [That is what I], Yahweh, say.

14 “Because of this, behold, I will attract her, and I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart.

But listen! [Some day] I will persuade my people [to worship me again]; I will lead them [out] into the desert and speak kindly to them [there].

15 And I will give to her, from the same place, her vinedressers, and the valley of Achor as a passage of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in the days of her ascension from the land of Egypt.

I will give their vineyards [back] to them, and I will cause Achor Valley, [which means ‘valley of trouble'], to become a valley where they will confidently expect [me to do good things for them]. They will (respond to/want to please) me there like they did long ago, when I freed them from [being slaves in] Egypt.

16 And it will be in that day,” says the Lord, “that she will call me, ‘My Husband,’ and she will no longer call me, ‘My Baal.’

At that time, they will say to me, ‘[It is as though] [MET] you are our husband.’ They will not say that I am their [master, like they considered that] Baal [was].

17 And I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and she will no longer remember their name.

I will not allow them to speak [MTY] the names of Baal; they will never use those names again.

18 And in that day, I will strike a deal with them, with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creatures of the earth. And I will crush the bow and the sword, and I will wipe away war from the earth. And I will let them sleep securely.

At that time [it will be as though] I will make an agreement with [all] the wild animals and birds, and [even with] the little animals that scurry across the ground, so that they will never harm my people [again]. And I will remove from their nation all the weapons [for fighting] battles, [like] swords and bows [and arrows]. The result will be that my people will live peacefully and safely, and will not be afraid.

19 And I will betroth you to me forever, and I will betroth you to me in justice and judgment, and in mercy and compassion.

I will cause them to be [as though they are] [MET] my bride forever. I will be righteous and fair/just; I will faithfully love them and be kind to them.

20 And I will wed you to me in faith, and you will know that I am the Lord.

I will not abandon them, and they will realize [that I] Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do.]

21 And this will happen in that day: I will listen closely,” says the Lord. “I will hear the heavens, and they will hear the earth.

At that time, [when they request me to do things for them], [I will do those things]. When they request clouds and rain to fall on their land, I will speak to the clouds, and rain will fall on the earth,

22 And the land will pay attention to the grain, and the wine, and the oil; and these will hear Jezreel.

and grain will grow, and the vineyards and the olive trees will grow in Jezreel [Valley].

23 And I will plant her for me in the land, and I will have mercy on her, though she had been called Without Mercy. And I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

[At that time], I will take care of the Israeli people [like a farmer plants and takes care of his crops] [MET]. I will love those people that I previously said were ones I did not love, and I previously said, ‘You are not my people,’ and [then] they will say to me, ‘You are our God.’”