Hosea 2

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

Say to your brother, My people, and to your sister, Pitied.

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:

Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband: and I will remove her fornication out of my presence, and her adultery 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.

that I may strip her naked, and make her again as she was at the day of her birth: and I will make her desolate, and make her as a dry land, and will kill her with thirst.

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

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

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.

And their mother went a-whoring: she that bore them disgraced [them]: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, and my garments, and my linen clothes, my oil and my necessaries.

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.

Therefore, behold, I hedge up her way with thorns, and I will stop the ways, and she shall not find her path.

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 she shall follow after her lovers, and shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: and she shall say, I will go, and return to my former husband; for it was better with 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.

And she knew not that I gave her her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied silver to her: but she made silver and gold [images] for 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.

Therefore I will return, and take away my corn in its season, and my wine in its time; and I will take away my raiment and my linen clothes, so that she shall not cover her nakedness.

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 expose her uncleanness before her lovers, and no one shall by any means deliver 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 take away all her gladness, her feasts, and her festivals at the new moon, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

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 utterly destroy her vines, and her fig-trees, all things of which she said, These are my hire which my lovers have given me: and I will make them a testimony, and the wild beasts of the field, and the birds of the sky, and the reptiles of the earth shall devour them.

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 recompense on her the days of Baalim, wherein she sacrificed to them, and put on her ear-rings, and her necklaces, and went after her lovers, and forgot 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.

Therefore, behold, I [will] cause her to err, and will make her as desolate, and will speak comfortably 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 giver her possessions from thence, and the valley of Achor to open her understanding: and she shall be afflicted there according to the days of her infancy, and according to the days of her coming 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 it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, [that] she shall call me, My husband, and shall no longer call me Baalim.

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.

And I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and their names shall be remembered no more at all.

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 I will make for them in that day a covenant with the wild beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the reptiles of the earth: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle from off the earth, and will cause you to dwell safely.

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 betroth you to myself for ever; yes, I will betroth you to myself in righteousness, and in judgement, and in mercy, and in tender compassions;

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

and I will betroth you to myself in faithfulness: and you shall know 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 shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, I will listen to the heaven, and it shall listen 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 shall listen to the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall listen to Jezrael.

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 sow her to me on the earth; and will love her that was not loved, and will say to that which was not my people, You are my people; and they shall say, You are the Lord my God.