Osee 2

1 Say to your brother, My people, and to your sister, Pitied.

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, and I am not her husband: and I will remove her fornication out of my presence, and her adultery 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 that I may strip her naked, and make her again as she was at the day of her birth: and I will make her desolate, and make her as a dry land, and will 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 children of fornication.

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

5 And their mother went a-whoring: she that bore them disgraced [them]: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, and my garments, and my linen clothes, my oil and my necessaries.

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 hedge up her way with thorns, and I will stop the ways, and she shall not find her path.

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, and shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: and she shall say, I will go, and return to my former husband; for it was 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 And she knew not that I gave her her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied silver to her: but she made silver and gold [images] 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 I will return, and take away my corn in its season, and my wine in its time; and I will take away my raiment and my linen clothes, so that she shall not 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 I will expose her uncleanness before her lovers, and no one shall by any means 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 And I will take away all her gladness, her feasts, and her festivals at the new moon, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

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 utterly destroy her vines, and her fig-trees, all things of which she said, These are my hire which my lovers have given me: and I will make them a testimony, and the wild beasts of the field, and the birds of the sky, and the reptiles of the earth shall devour 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 recompense on her the days of Baalim, wherein she sacrificed to them, and put on her ear-rings, and her necklaces, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says 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] cause her to err, and will make her as desolate, and will 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 giver her possessions from thence, and the valley of Achor to open her understanding: and she shall be afflicted there according to the days of her infancy, and according to the days of her coming up out of 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 come to pass in that day, says the Lord, [that] she shall call me, My husband, and shall no longer call me Baalim.

“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 And I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and their names shall be remembered no more at all.

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

18 And I will make for them in that day a covenant with the wild beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the reptiles of the earth: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle from off the earth, and will cause you to dwell safely.

“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 you to myself for ever; yes, I will betroth you to myself in righteousness, and in judgment, and in mercy, and in tender compassions;

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

20 and I will betroth you to myself in faithfulness: and you shall 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, says the Lord, I will listen to the heaven, and it shall listen to 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 listen to the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall listen to Jezrael.

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 on the earth; and will love her that was not loved, and will say to that which was not my people, You are my people; and they shall say, You are the Lord 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.'”