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14 I will lay waste her vines and fig trees,
    of which she said, “These are the fees
    my lovers have given me”;
I will turn them into rank growth
    and wild animals shall devour them.
15 I will punish her for the days of the Baals,[a]
    for whom she burnt incense,
When she decked herself out with her rings and her jewelry,
    and went after her lovers—
    but me she forgot—oracle of the Lord.(A)
16 Therefore,[b] I will allure her now;
    I will lead her into the wilderness(B)
    and speak persuasively to her.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:15 The days of the Baals: feast days of the Baal cult (v. 13), or the whole period of Israel’s apostasy.
  2. 2:16 Therefore: this word in Hebrew normally introduces an oracle of doom; here, surprisingly, it leads to hope. Allure: as though seducing a virgin (Ex 22:15–16). Ordinarily this word connotes deception (Jgs 14:15; 16:5; 1 Kgs 22:20–22).

14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
    I will lead her into the wilderness(A)
    and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
    and will make the Valley of Achor[a](B) a door of hope.
There she will respond[b](C) as in the days of her youth,(D)
    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(E)

16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;(F)
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
  2. Hosea 2:15 Or sing
  3. Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal