Hosea 2

1 "Say to your brothers, 'My People.' and to your sisters, 'Compassion.'

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

2 Contend with your mother. Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and 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 make her bare as in the day that she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her 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 Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy; for they are children of unfaithfulness;

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

5 For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; 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.'

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, look, I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can't find her way.

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 She will follow after her lovers, but she won't overtake them; and she will seek them, but won't find them. Then she will say, 'I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me 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 For she did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

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 I will take back my grain in its time, and my new wine in its season, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered 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 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will 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 I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

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

12 I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, 'These are my wages that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest,' and the animals of the field shall eat 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 I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me," says Jehovah.

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, look, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

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

15 I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came 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 It will be in that day," says Jehovah, "that you will call me 'my husband,' and no longer call me 'my master.'

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 take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.

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

18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the crawling creatures of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.

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 I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.

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 I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know Jehovah.

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

21 It will happen in that day, I will respond," says Jehovah, "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to 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 will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel.

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 myself in the land; and I will compassion on No Compassion; and I will say to Not My People, 'You are my people;' and they will say, '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.