Hosea 2

1 “Say to your brothers, ‘You are my people,’ and to your sister, ‘You have obtained mercy.’

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

2 Judge your mother, judge: for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove her fornications from before her face and her adulteries from between her breasts.

Plead with your mother, plead; 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;

3 Otherwise, I may expose her nakedness and set her as on the day of her birth, and I may establish her as a wilderness and set her as an impassable land, and I may execute her with thirst.

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 as a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

4 And I will not have mercy on her sons, for they are the sons of fornications.

And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of whoredoms.

5 For their mother has been fornicating; she who conceived them has been brought to ruin. 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 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.

6 Because of this, behold, I will fence in your way with thorns, and I will surround it with a wall, and she will not find her paths.

Therefore behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns; and I will fence [her] in with a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

7 And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not obtain them, and she will seek them, but she will not find them, and she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, because it was to some extent better for me then, than it is now.’

And she shall pursue after her lovers, and shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, and shall not find them: and she shall say, I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now.

8 And she did not know that I gave her grain and wine and oil, and that I increased her silver and gold, which they made into Baal.

And she did not know that I had given her the corn and the new wine and the oil, and had multiplied to her the silver and gold, which they employed for Baal.

9 For this reason, I will turn back, and I will take away my grain in its time and my wine in its time, and I will set free my wool and my flax, which had covered her disgrace.

Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my new wine in its season, and will withdraw my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

10 And now, I will reveal her foolishness by the eyes of her lovers, and no man will rescue her from my hand.

And now will I discover her impiety in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

11 And I will cause all her joy to cease: her solemnities, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her feast dates.

And I will cause all her mirth to cease: her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths! and all her solemnities.

12 And I will corrupt her vines and her fig trees, about which she said, ‘These rewards, they are mine, my lovers have given them to me.’ And I will place her in a narrow forest, and the beasts of the field will devour her.

And I will make desolate her vine and her fig-tree, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards which my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13 And I will inflict on her the days of the Baals, for whom she burned incense, and ornamented herself with earrings and necklace, and went after her lovers, and forgot about me,” says the Lord.

And I will visit upon her the days of the Baals, wherein she burned incense to them, and decked herself with her rings and jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith Jehovah.

14 “Because of this, behold, I will attract her, and I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart.

Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart.

15 And I will give to her, from the same place, her vinedressers, and the valley of Achor as a passage of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in the days of her ascension from the land of Egypt.

And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

16 And it will be in that day,” says the Lord, “that she will call me, ‘My Husband,’ and she will no longer call me, ‘My Baal.’

And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, [that] thou shalt call me, My husband, and shalt call me no more, Baali;

17 And I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and she will no longer remember their name.

for I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

18 And in that day, I will strike a deal with them, with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creatures of the earth. And I will crush the bow and the sword, and I will wipe away war from the earth. And I will let them sleep securely.

And I will make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will break bow and sword and battle out of the land; and I will make them to lie down safely.

19 And I will betroth you to me forever, and I will betroth you to me in justice and judgment, and in mercy and compassion.

And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; and I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies;

20 And I will wed you to me in faith, and you will know that I am the Lord.

and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know Jehovah.

21 And this will happen in that day: I will listen closely,” says the Lord. “I will hear the heavens, and they will hear the earth.

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

22 And the land will pay attention to the grain, and the wine, and the oil; and these will hear Jezreel.

and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel.

23 And I will plant her for me in the land, and I will have mercy on her, though she had been called Without Mercy. And I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

And I will sow her unto me in the land; and I will have mercy upon Lo-ruhamah; and I will say to Lo-ammi, Thou art my people; and they shall say, My God.