Hosea 2

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

“On that day you will call your brothers Ammi, and you will call your sisters Ruhamah.

2 Contend with your mother, contend; 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;

Condemn your mother, condemn her because she is not my wife and I am not her husband. Tell her to stop looking like a prostitute—get rid of the makeup and the provocative clothing.

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 as the day she was born, and make her like a desert, a barren land, and let her die of thirst.

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

I will have no pity on her children because 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, mine oil and my drink.

For their mother was a prostitute who conceived them in a shameful way. She said, ‘I'll run after my lovers who give me my food and water, my wool and flax and olive oil, and my drink.’

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

That is why I am going to block her path with thorn bushes, and build a stone wall to stop her so she won't 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.

When she runs after her lovers she won't catch up with them; she'll look for them but she won't find them. Then she'll say, ‘Let me go back to my former husband, because it was better for me then than now.’

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

She doesn't consider that it was me who gave her grain, new wine, and olive oil; the silver and the gold which I gave her abundantly that they made into an idol of Baal.

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

So I will take back my ripened grain and my new wine I gave at harvest time. I will take back my wool and my flax I provided to cover her nakedness.

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

I will strip her naked while her lovers watch; no one will be able to rescue her from me.

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 a stop to all her festivities: her feasts, new moon celebrations, special Sabbaths—all her festivals.

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 that she said were given to her as payment for being a prostitute. I will turn them into scrub-land; only wild animals will eat the remaining fruit.

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 Jehovah.

I will punish her for all the times she offered incense to Baal, dressing herself up, putting on rings and jewelry, going after her lovers, but forgetting about me, declares the Lord.

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

See what I'm going to do! I will win her back, taking her into the desert where I will speak to her heart-to-heart.

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 return her vineyards to her and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond to me as she did when she was young, as in the time when she left the land of Egypt.

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

Then on that day, says the Lord, you will call me ‘my husband’ and not ‘my Baal.’

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.

I will stop her appealing to the Baals—their names won't be mentioned ever again.

18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, 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.

At that time I will make a solemn agreement with the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the ground. I will do away with the bow and the sword; I will abolish war from the land so you can 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 justice, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

I will make you my wife forever; I will make you my wife in goodness and justice and love and mercy.

20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know Jehovah.

I will be faithful to you, my wife, and you will know me as the Lord.

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

On that day, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens and they will answer the earth.

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

The earth will answer the grain, and the new wine, and the olive oil, and they shall answer, ‘Jezreel’ (God sows).

23 And I will 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 that were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, [Thou art] my God.

I will ‘sow’ her for myself in the earth. I will love Lo-ruhamah (unloved) and I will say ‘you are my people’ to Lo-ammi (not my people), and they will say ‘You are my God.’”