Hosea 2

1 Call ye your brethren My-people; and your sisters Pitied.

[At that time, ] you will say to your fellow-Israeli men, “[You are] God’s people,” and [you will say] to your fellow-Israeli women, “You are ones whom God loves.”

2 Contend ye with your mother, contend! For she is not my wife, Nor am I her husband; That she put away lewdness from her face, And adultery from her breasts, Lest I strip her naked, And expose her, as when she was born;

[Yahweh also said to me], “I want you to accuse the Israeli people. [It is as though] [MET] this nation is your mother, but this nation is [no longer as though it is] [MET] my wife, and it is [no longer as though] [MET] I am its husband. Tell the Israeli people that they must stop [acting like] a prostitute [by worshiping other gods]; they must stop showing by their behavior that they (are unfaithful to/have abandoned) [me] [MET].

3 Lest I make her as the desert, and like a parched land, And kill her with thirst.

If they do not do that, I will not give them [food and] clothes [as a husband should give to his wife]; I will take away those things, and I will cause their nation to become [as deserted] as it was on the day that I [brought their ancestors out of Egypt and caused them to become a nation] [MET]. I will cause their country to be like [SIM] a desert; there will be no rain to water the ground [MET].

4 Upon her sons also I will not have pity, For they are the sons of lewdness.

I will not pity the people, because they have [abandoned me] as [MET] prostitutes abandon their husbands.

5 For their mother hath been guilty of lewdness; She that bore them hath brought upon herself shame; For she said, I will go after my lovers, Who give me my food and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my strong drink.

Their parents are like prostitutes [MET]: they have been unfaithful [to me], and they have done [very] disgraceful things. They said, ‘We will run to [our idols/gods] who love us; [they are the ones] who give us food and water and wool and linen and [olive] oil, and [wine to] drink.’

6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns, And I will enclose her with a wall, So that she shall not find her paths.

So [it will be as though] [MET] I am blocking their road with thornbushes, and putting put a wall around them so that they do not know which way to go.

7 When she followeth after her lovers, she shall not overtake them; When she seeketh them, she shall not find them. Then shall she say, I will go back to my former husband, For then it was better with me than now.

They will run to their idols/gods that [they think] love them, but they will not find them. They will search for their false gods, but they will not find them. Then they will say, ‘[Perhaps] we should return to [Yahweh], whom we worshiped previously [MET], because things were better for us then than they are now.’

8 For she did not consider that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, And multiplied silver unto her, And gold, of which they made images of Baal.

But they do not realize that I, [Yahweh], am the one who gave them grain and wine and [olive] oil; I am the one who gave them silver and gold which they used to worship Baal.

9 Therefore will I take back my corn in its time, And my new wine in its season, And I will take away my wool and my flax, Which covered her nakedness.

Therefore I will return and take my grain and grapes from them when they are ripe. I will take from them the wool and linen that I gave to them [to make their clothes] [MTY].

10 And now will I reveal her shame before the eyes of her lovers, And none shall deliver her out of my hand.

I will show those false gods/idols that what my people are doing is disgusting [MET], and no one will be able to hinder me from [punishing them].

11 And I will cause all her joy to cease; Her feasts, and new moons, and sabbaths, And all her festal days.

I will cause their religious celebrations to cease, the festivals that they celebrate every year and at every new moon and on their (Sabbath days/weekly days of rest). I will cause all their religious celebrations to cease.

12 I will destroy her vines, and her fig-trees, Of which she said, These are my hire, Which my lovers have given me; And I will make them a forest, And the wild beasts shall eat them.

I will destroy [all] their grapevines and fig trees, which they said were what their [idols/gods] who loved them paid them for worshiping those idols. I will cause those places to become a desert, and wild animals will eat the fruit [that remains].

13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals, When she burned incense to them, And decked herself with her rings and her jewels, And went after her lovers, And forgot me, saith Jehovah.

I will punish my people for [all] the times that they burned incense to [honor] the idols of Baal. They decorated themselves with rings and jewelry, and they went to worship those [false gods/idols] that [they thought] [IRO] loved them, but they abandoned/forgot me! [That is what I], Yahweh, say.

14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, And will lead her to the desert, And will speak kindly to her;

But listen! [Some day] I will persuade my people [to worship me again]; I will lead them [out] into the desert and speak kindly to them [there].

15 And thence will I give her her vineyards, And the valley of Achor for a door of hope; And there shall she sing, as in the days of her youth! As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

I will give their vineyards [back] to them, and I will cause Achor Valley, [which means ‘valley of trouble'], to become a valley where they will confidently expect [me to do good things for them]. They will (respond to/want to please) me there like they did long ago, when I freed them from [being slaves in] Egypt.

16 At that time, saith Jehovah, Thou shalt call me, MY HUSBAND; Thou shalt no more call me, MY BAAL;

At that time, they will say to me, ‘[It is as though] [MET] you are our husband.’ They will not say that I am their [master, like they considered that] Baal [was].

17 For I will take away the name of the Baals out of her mouth, And their name shall no more be uttered.

I will not allow them to speak [MTY] the names of Baal; they will never use those names again.

18 At that time will I make for them a covenant With the beasts of the forest, and with the birds of heaven, And with the creeping things of the ground. The bow and the sword and the battle will I break from the land, And I will cause them to lie down in safety.

At that time [it will be as though] I will make an agreement with [all] the wild animals and birds, and [even with] the little animals that scurry across the ground, so that they will never harm my people [again]. And I will remove from their nation all the weapons [for fighting] battles, [like] swords and bows [and arrows]. The result will be that my people will live peacefully and safely, and will not be afraid.

19 I will betroth thee to me forever; Yea, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in justice, And in kindness, and in tender love.

I will cause them to be [as though they are] [MET] my bride forever. I will be righteous and fair/just; I will faithfully love them and be kind to them.

20 Yea, I will betroth thee to me in faithfulness, And thou shalt know Jehovah.

I will not abandon them, and they will realize [that I] Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do.]

21 At that time will I hear, saith Jehovah; I will hear the heavens; And they shall hear the earth,

At that time, [when they request me to do things for them], [I will do those things]. When they request clouds and rain to fall on their land, I will speak to the clouds, and rain will fall on the earth,

22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil, And they shall hear Jezreel.

and grain will grow, and the vineyards and the olive trees will grow in Jezreel [Valley].

23 And I will plant her for myself in the land; And I will have pity upon her that was called Unpitied; And I will say to them called Not-my-people, Thou art my people; And they shall say, Thou art my God.

[At that time], I will take care of the Israeli people [like a farmer plants and takes care of his crops] [MET]. I will love those people that I previously said were ones I did not love, and I previously said, ‘You are not my people,’ and [then] they will say to me, ‘You are our God.’”