< Hosea 2 >

1 “Say to your brothers, ‘My people!’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one!’
Sei ye to youre britheren, Thei ben my puple; and to youre sister that hath gete merci,
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;
Deme ye youre modir, deme ye, for sche is not my wijf, and Y am not hir hosebonde. Do sche awey hir fornicaciouns fro hir face, and hir auowtries fro the myddis of hir brestis;
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.
lest perauenture Y spuyle hir nakid, and sette hir nakid bi the dai of hir natyuyte. And Y schal sette hir as a wildirnesse, and Y schal ordeyne hir as a lond with out weie, and Y schal sle hir in thirst.
4 Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy, for they are children of unfaithfulness.
And Y schal not haue merci on the sones of hir, for thei ben sones of fornicaciouns;
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 the modir of hem dide fornicacioun, sche is schent that conseyuede hem, for sche seide, Y schal go after my louyeris that yeuen looues to me, and my watris, and my wolle, and my flex, and myn oile, and my drynke.
6 Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can’t find her way.
For this thing lo! Y schal hegge thi weie with thornes, and Y schal hegge it with a wal, and sche schal not fynde hir pathis.
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 it was better with me than now.’
And sche schal sue hir louyeris, and schal not take hem, and sche schal seke hem, and schal not fynde; and sche schal seie, Y schal go, and turne ayen to my formere hosebonde, for it was wel to me thanne more than now.
8 For she didn’t 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.
And this Jerusalem wiste not, that Y yaf to hir wheete, wyn, and oile; and Y multiplied siluer and gold to hir, whiche thei maden to 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.
Therfor Y schal turne, and take my wheete in his tyme, and my wiyn in his tyme; and Y schal delyuere my wolle, and my flex, bi which thei hiliden the schenschipe therof.
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 Y schal schewe the foli of hir bifore the iyen of hir louyeris, and a man schal not delyuere hir fro myn hond;
11 I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
and Y schal make to ceesse al the ioye therof, the solempnyte therof, the neomenye therof, the sabat therof, and alle the feeste tymes therof.
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 Y schal distrie the vyner therof, of whiche sche seide, These ben myn hiris, whiche my louyeris yauen to me; and Y schal sette it in to a forest, and a beeste of the feeld schal ete it.
13 I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burnt incense when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers and forgot me,” says the LORD.
And Y schal visite on it the daies of Baalym, in whiche it brente encense, and was ourned with hir eere ryng, and hir broche, and yede after hir louyeris, and foryat me, seith the Lord.
14 “Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
For this thing lo! Y schal yyue mylk to it, and Y schal brynge it in to wildirnesse, and Y schal speke to the herte therof.
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 Y schal yyue to it vyn tilieris therof of the same place, and the valei of Achar, that is, of disturblyng, for to opene hope. And it schal synge there bi the daies of hir yongthe, and bi the daies of hir stiyng fro the lond of Egipt.
16 It will be in that day,” says the LORD, “that you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer call me ‘my master.’
And it schal be in that dai, seith the Lord, sche schal clepe me Myn hosebonde, and sche schal no more clepe me Baalym;
17 For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.
and Y schal take awei the names of Baalym fro hir mouth, and sche schal no more haue mynde of the name of tho.
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 creeping things 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 Y schal smyte to hem a boond of pees in that dai with the beeste of the feeld, and with the brid of the eir, and with the crepynge beeste of erthe. And Y schal al to-breke bowe, and swerd, and batel fro erthe; and Y schal make hem to slepe tristili.
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 Y schal spouse thee to me withouten ende; and Y schal spouse thee to me in riytfulnesse, and in dom, and in merci, and in merciful doyngis.
20 I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.
And Y schal spouse thee to me in feith; and thou schalt wite, that Y am the Lord.
21 It will happen in that day, that I will respond,” says the LORD. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;
And it schal be, in that dai Y schal here, seith the Lord, and Y schal here heuenes, and tho schulen here the erthe;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel.
and the erthe schal here wheete, and wyn, and oile, and these schulen here Jesrael.
23 I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘You are My God!’”
And Y schal sowe it to me in to a lond, and Y schal haue merci on it that was with out merci. And Y schal seie to that, that is not my puple, Thou art my puple, and it schal seie, Thou art my God.

< Hosea 2 >