Hosea 2

1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’

2 Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.

3 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;

Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst.

4 Yea, upon her children will I have no mercy; for they be children of whoredom.

I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.

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, mine oil and my drink.

For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’

6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will make a fence against her, that she shall not find her paths.

Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.

7 And she shall follow 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.

She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband, for then I was better off than now.’

8 For she did not know that I gave her the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and multiplied unto her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold— which they crafted for Baal.

9 Therefore will I take back my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.

10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.

11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her appointed feasts.

12 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.

I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers. So I will make them into a thicket, and the beasts of the field will devour them.

13 And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, unto which she burned incense; when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.

I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,”

14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.

15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall make answer there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’

17 For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name.

For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.

18 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.

On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.

19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.

20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will answer, saith the LORD, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth;

“On that day I will respond—” declares the LORD— “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth.

22 and the earth shall answer the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall answer Jezreel.

And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

23 And I wilt sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, [Thou art] my God.

And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”