Hosea 2

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

'Say ye to your brethren — 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:

Plead ye with your mother — plead, (For she [is] not My wife, and I [am] not her husband, ) And she turneth her whoredoms from before her, And her adulteries 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.

Lest I strip her naked. And have set her up as [in] the day of her birth, And have made her as a wilderness, And have set her as a dry land, And have put her to death with thirst.

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

And her sons I do not pity, For sons of whoredoms [are] they,

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 gone a-whoring hath their mother, Acted shamefully hath their conceiver, For she hath said, I go after my lovers, Those giving my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.

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, lo, I am hedging up thy way with thorns, And I have made for her a wall, And her paths she doth not find.

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 hath pursued her lovers, And she doth not overtake them, And hath sought them, and doth not find, And she hath said: I go, and I turn back unto My first husband, For — better to me then 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 had given to her, The corn, and the new wine, and the oil. Yea, silver I did multiply to her, And the gold they prepared 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 do I turn back, And I have taken My corn in its season, And My new wine in its appointed time, And I have taken away My wool and My flax, covering 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 do I reveal her dishonour before the eyes of her lovers, And none doth 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 have caused to cease all her joy, Her festival, her new moon, and her sabbath, Even all her appointed times,

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 made desolate her vine and her fig-tree, Of which she said, A gift they [are] to me, That my lovers have given to me, And I have made them for a forest, And consumed them hath a beast of the field.

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 have charged on her the days of the Baalim, To whom she maketh perfume, And putteth on her ring and her ornament, And goeth after her lovers, And Me forgat — an affirmation of Jehovah.

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

Therefore, lo, I am enticing her, And have caused her to go to the wilderness, And I have spoken unto her heart,

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 given to her her vineyards from thence, And the valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she hath responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day 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 hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah, Thou dost call Me — My husband, And dost not call Me any more — My lord.

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 have turned aside the names of the lords from her mouth, And they are not remembered any more by their name.

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 have made to them a covenant in that day, with the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the creeping thing of the ground, And bow, and sword, and war I break from off the land, And have caused them to lie down confidently.

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 have betrothed thee to Me to the age, And betrothed thee to Me in righteousness, And in judgment, and kindness, and mercies,

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

And betrothed thee to Me in faithfulness, And thou hast known Jehovah.

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 hath come to pass in that day, I answer — an affirmation of Jehovah, I answer the heavens, and they answer 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 doth answer the corn, And the new wine, and the oil, And they answer 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 have sowed her to Me in the land, And I have pitied Lo-Ruhamah, And I have said to Lo-Ammi, My people thou [art], and it saith, My God!'