Hosea 2

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

Say to your brothers, 'My people!' and to your sisters, 'You have been shown compassion.'”

2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she [is] not my wife, neither [am] I her husband: let her therefore put away her prostitutions out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Bring a lawsuit against your mother, bring a lawsuit, for she is not my wife, and neither am I her husband. Let her put away her prostitution from before herself, and her acts of adultery 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 kill her with thirst.

If not, I will strip her naked and show her nakedness as on the day that she was born. I will make her like the wilderness, like a parched land, and I will make her die from thirst.

4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they [are] the children of lewdness.

I will not have any mercy on her children, for they are children of prostitution.

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 their mother has been a prostitute, and she who conceived them has acted shamefully. She said, “I will go after my lovers, for they give me my bread and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink.”

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

Therefore I will build up a hedge to block her way with thorns. I will build up a wall against her 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 she will not overtake them. She will seek them, but she will not find them. Then she will say, “I will return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than it is now.”

8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [which] they prepared for Baal.

For she had not known that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they then used for Baal.

9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will recover my wool and my flax [given] to cover her nakedness.

So I will take back her grain at harvest time, and my new wine in its season. I will take back my wool and flax that were used to cover her nakedness.

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

Then I will strip her naked in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her out of my hand.

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

I will also cause all her celebrations to cease— her feasts, her new moon celebrations, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed festivals.

12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees, of which she hath said, These [are] my rewards 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 her fig trees, of which she has said, 'These are the wages that my lovers gave me.' I will make them a forest, and the animals of the field will eat them.

13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, in which she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her ear-rings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the LORD.

I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals, when she burned incense to them, when she adorned herself with her rings and jewelry, and she went after her lovers and forgot me— this is Yahweh's declaration.”

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

So I am going to win her back. I will bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.

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

I will give her back her vineyards, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. She will answer me there as she did in the days of her youth, as in the days that she came out of the land 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.

“It will be in that day—this is Yahweh's declaration— that you will call me, 'My husband,' and you will no longer call me, 'My Baal.'

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

For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; their names will not be remembered anymore.”

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 animals of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down in safety.

“On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts in the fields, with the birds in the sky, and with the crawling things on the ground. I will drive away the bow, the sword, and the battle from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.

19 And I will betroth thee to me for ever; yes, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.

I will promise to be your husband forever. I will promise to be your husband in righteousness, justice, covenant faithfulness, and mercy.

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

I will pledge myself to you in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh.

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

On that day, I will answer—this is Yahweh's declaration— I will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth.

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

The earth will answer the grain, the new wine and the oil, and they will answer Jezreel.

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

I will plant her for myself in the land, and I will have mercy on Lo-Ruhamah. I will say to Lo-Ammi, 'You are Ammi Attah,' and they will say to me, 'You are my God.'”