Hosea 2
1 “Say to your brothers—Ammi, And to your sisters—Ruhamah.
Say ye unto your brethren: 'Ammi'; and to your sisters, 'Ruhamah.'
2 Plead with your mother—plead (For she [is] not My wife, and I [am] not her husband), And she turns her whoredoms from before her, And her adulteries from between her breasts,
Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not My wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her harlotries from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
3 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.
Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
4 And her sons I do not pity, For they [are] sons of whoredoms,
And I will not have compassion upon her children; for they are children of harlotry.
5 For their mother has gone whoring, Their conceiver has acted shamefully, For she has said, I go after my lovers, Those giving my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.
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, mine oil and my drink.'
6 Therefore, behold, I am hedging up your way with thorns, And I have made a wall for her, And her paths she does not find.
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will make a wall against her, that she shall not find her paths.
7 And she has pursued her lovers, And she does not overtake them, And has sought them, and does not find [them], And she has said: I go, and I return to my first husband, For—better to me then than now.
And she shall run after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them, and she shall seek them, but shall not find them; then shall she say: 'I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.'
8 And she did not know that I had given to her The grain, and the new wine, and the oil. Indeed, I multiplied silver to her, And the gold they prepared for Ba‘al.
For she did not know that it was I that gave her the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and multiplied unto her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.
9 Therefore I return, And I have taken My grain in its season, And My new wine in its appointed time, And I have taken away My wool and My flax, covering her nakedness.
Therefore will I take back My corn in the time thereof, and My wine in the season thereof, and will snatch away My wool and My flax given to cover her nakedness.
10 And now I reveal her dishonor before the eyes of her lovers, And none deliver her out of My hand.
And now will I uncover her shame in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of My hand.
11 And I have caused all her joy to cease, Her festival, her new moon, and her Sabbath, Even all her appointed times,
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her appointed seasons.
12 And made desolate her vine and her fig tree, Of which she said, They [are] a wage to me, That my lovers have given to me, And I have made them for a forest, And a beast of the field has consumed them.
And I will lay waste her vines and her fig-trees, whereof she hath said: 'These are my hire that my lovers have given me'; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13 And I have charged on her the days of the Ba‘alim, To whom she makes incense, And puts on her ring and her ornament, And goes after her lovers, And forgot Me,” a declaration of YHWH.
And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, wherein she offered unto them, and decked herself with her ear-rings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot Me, saith the LORD.
14 “Therefore, behold, I am enticing her, And have caused her to go to the wilderness, And I have spoken to her heart,
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly unto her.
15 And given to her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she has responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 And it has come to pass in that day,” A declaration of YHWH, “You call Me: My husband, And do not call Me anymore: My lord.
And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call Me Ishi, and shalt call Me no more Baali.
17 And I have turned aside the names of the lords from her mouth, And they are not remembered anymore by their name.
For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name.
18 And I have made a covenant for them in that day, With the beast of the field, And with the bird 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.
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground; and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely.
19 And I have betrothed you to Me for all time, And betrothed you to Me in righteousness, And in judgment, and kindness, and mercies,
And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in compassion.
20 And betrothed you to Me in faithfulness, And you have known YHWH.
And I will betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the LORD.
21 And it has come to pass in that day, I answer,” A declaration of YHWH, “I answer the heavens, and they answer the earth.
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will respond, saith the LORD, I will respond to the heavens, and they shall respond to the earth;
22 And the earth answers the grain, And the new wine, and the oil, And they answer Jezreel.
And the earth shall respond to the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall respond to Jezreel.
23 And I have sowed her to Me in the land, And I have pitied Lo-Ruhamah, And I have said to Lo-Ammi, You [are] My people, And he says, My God!”
And I will sow her unto Me in the land; and I will have compassion upon her that had not obtained compassion; and I will say to them that were not My people: 'Thou art My people'; and they shall say: 'Thou art my God.'
