Hosea 2

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

Say to your brothers, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

2 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:

Take up the cause against your mother, take it up, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; let her put away her loose ways from her face, and her false ways from between her breasts;

3 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.

For fear that I may take away her robe from her, making her uncovered as in the day of her birth; making her like a waste place and a dry land, causing her death through need of water.

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

And I will have no mercy on her children, for they are the children of her loose ways.

5 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.

For their mother has been untrue; she who gave them birth has done things of shame, for she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my wine.

6 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.

For this cause I will put thorns in her road, building up a wall round her so that she may not go on her way.

7 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.

And if she goes after her lovers she will not overtake them; if she makes search for them she will not see them; then will she say, I will go back to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.

8 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.

For she had no knowledge that it was I who gave her the grain and the wine and the oil, increasing her silver and gold which they gave to the Baal.

9 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.

So I will take away again my grain in its time and my wine, and I will take away my wool and my linen with which her body might have been covered.

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

And now I will make her shame clear before the eyes of her lovers, and no one will take her out of my hand.

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

And I will put an end to all her joy, her feasts, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her regular meetings.

12 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.

And I will make waste her vines and her fig-trees, of which she has said, These are the payments which my lovers have made to me; and I will make them a waste of trees, and the beasts of the field will take them for food.

13 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.

And I will give her punishment for the days of the Baals, to whom she has been burning perfumes, when she made herself fair with her nose-rings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, giving no thought to me, says the Lord.

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

For this cause I will make her come into the waste land and will say words of comfort to her.

15 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.

And I will give her vine-gardens from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will give her answer there as in the days when she was young, and as in the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

16 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]].

And in that day, says the Lord, you will say to me, Ishi; and you will never again give me the name of Baali;

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

For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and never again will she say their names.

18 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.

And in that day I will make an agreement for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven and the things which go low on the earth; I will put an end to the bow and the sword and war in all the land, and will make them take their rest in peace.

19 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.

And I will take you as my bride for ever; truly, I will take you as my bride in righteousness and in right judging, in love and in mercies.

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

I will take you as my bride in good faith, and you will have knowledge of the Lord.

21 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;

And it will be, in that day, says the Lord, that I will give an answer to the heavens, and the heavens to the earth;

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

And the earth will give its answer to the grain and the wine and the oil, and they will give an answer to Jezreel;

23 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.

And I will put her as seed in the earth, and I will have mercy on her to whom no mercy was given; and I will say to those who were not my people, You are my people, and they will say, My God.