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Say to your brothers, Ammi,[a] and to your sisters, Ruhamah.[b]

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished

Plead with your mother, plead—
    for she is not My wife,
    and am I not her husband—
that she put away her harlotry from her face,
    and her adultery from between her breasts,
lest I strip her naked
    and leave her as in the day that she was born,
and turn her into a wilderness,
    and turn her into a dry land,
    and kill her with thirst.
I will not have mercy upon her children,
    for they are children of harlotry.
For their mother has played the whore.
    She that conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will pursue my lovers,
    who provide my bread and my water,
    my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.”
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns,
    and make a wall, so that she will not find her paths.
She will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
    and she will seek them but will not find them.
Then she will say,
    “I will go and return to my first husband,
    for it was better for me then than now.”
But she did not know that it was I who provided her
    the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and multiplied her silver and gold
    that they used for Baal.

Therefore I will take back My grain in its time
    and My wine in its season,
and I will recover My wool and My flax,
    given to cover her nakedness.
10 Therefore I will uncover her shame
    in the sight of her lovers,
    and no one will deliver her from My hand.
11 I will also bring to an end all her joy,
    her annual feasts, her New Moons,
    and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
12 I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
    of which she has said, “These are my rewards that my lovers have given me.”
I will make them a forest,
    and the beasts of the field will eat them.
13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals,
    when she burned incense to them
and adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry,
    and pursued her lovers,
    but forgot Me,
    declares the Lord.

God’s Mercy on Israel

14 Therefore, I will allure her,
    and bring her into the wilderness,
    and speak tenderly to her.
15 From there, I will give her vineyards to her,
    and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
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.

16 On that day, declares the Lord,
    you will call Me, “My husband,”
    and will no longer call Me, “My Baal.”[c]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
    and they will no longer be remembered by their name.
18 On that day, I will make a covenant for them
    with the beasts of the field, with the fowls of heaven,
    and with the creeping things of the ground.
I will break the bow and the sword and the battle
    from the earth,
    and will make them to lie down safely.
19 I will take you for My wife forever.
    I will take you for My wife in righteousness and in justice,
    in mercy and in compassion.
20 I will take you for My wife in faithfulness,
    and you will know the Lord.

21 On that day I will answer,
    declares the Lord;
I will answer the heavens,
    and they will answer the earth.
22 The earth will answer the grain,
    the wine, and the oil;
    and they will answer Jezreel.
23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth.
    I will have mercy upon Lo-Ruhamah,
and I will say to Lo-Ammi, “You are My people,”
    and they will say, “You are my God.”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:1 That is, My people.
  2. Hosea 2:1 That is, Pitied.
  3. Hosea 2:16 Or My master.

[a]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’(A)

Israel Punished and Restored

“Rebuke your mother,(B) rebuke her,
    for she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous(C) look from her face
    and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
Otherwise I will strip(D) her naked
    and make her as bare as on the day she was born;(E)
I will make her like a desert,(F)
    turn her into a parched land,
    and slay her with thirst.
I will not show my love to her children,(G)
    because they are the children of adultery.(H)
Their mother has been unfaithful
    and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(I)
    who give me my food and my water,
    my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(J)
Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
    I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.(K)
She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
    she will look for them but not find them.(L)
Then she will say,
    ‘I will go back to my husband(M) as at first,(N)
    for then I was better off(O) than now.’
She has not acknowledged(P) that I was the one
    who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,(Q)
who lavished on her the silver and gold(R)
    which they used for Baal.(S)

“Therefore I will take away my grain(T) when it ripens,
    and my new wine(U) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
    intended to cover her naked body.
10 So now I will expose(V) her lewdness
    before the eyes of her lovers;(W)
    no one will take her out of my hands.(X)
11 I will stop(Y) all her celebrations:(Z)
    her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
    her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.(AA)
12 I will ruin her vines(AB) and her fig trees,(AC)
    which she said were her pay from her lovers;(AD)
I will make them a thicket,(AE)
    and wild animals will devour them.(AF)
13 I will punish her for the days
    she burned incense(AG) to the Baals;(AH)
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,(AI)
    and went after her lovers,(AJ)
    but me she forgot,(AK)
declares the Lord.(AL)

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

16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;(AR)
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.[d]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(AS)
    no longer will their names be invoked.(AT)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
    with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
    and the creatures that move along the ground.(AU)
Bow and sword and battle
    I will abolish(AV) from the land,
    so that all may lie down in safety.(AW)
19 I will betroth(AX) you to me forever;
    I will betroth you in[e] righteousness and justice,(AY)
    in[f] love and compassion.(AZ)
20 I will betroth you in[g] faithfulness,
    and you will acknowledge(BA) the Lord.(BB)

21 “In that day I will respond,”
    declares the Lord
“I will respond(BC) to the skies,
    and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
    the new wine and the olive oil,(BD)
    and they will respond to Jezreel.[h](BE)
23 I will plant(BF) her for myself in the land;
    I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[i](BG)
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[j]’ ‘You are my people’;(BH)
    and they will say, ‘You are my God.(BI)’”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.
  2. Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
  3. Hosea 2:15 Or sing
  4. Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
  5. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  6. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  7. Hosea 2:20 Or with
  8. Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
  9. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
  10. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)