< Hosea 2 >

1 “Say to your brothers—Ammi, And to your sisters—Ruhamah.
Say unto your brethren Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
2 Plead with your mother—plead (For she [is] not My wife, and I [am] not her husband), And she turns her whoredoms from before her, 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 Lest I strip her naked. And have set her up as [in] the day of her birth, And have made her as a wilderness, And have set her as a dry land, And have put her to death 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 her sons I do not pity, For they [are] sons of whoredoms,
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of whoredoms.
5 For their mother has gone whoring, Their conceiver has acted shamefully, For she has said, I go after my lovers, Those giving 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 Therefore, behold, I am hedging up your way with thorns, And I have made a wall for her, And her paths she does not find.
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 has pursued her lovers, And she does not overtake them, And has sought them, and does not find [them], And she has said: I go, and I return to my first husband, For—better to me then than 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 had given to her The grain, and the new wine, and the oil. Indeed, I multiplied silver to her, And the gold they prepared for Ba‘al.
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 Therefore I return, And I have taken My grain in its season, And My new wine in its appointed time, And I have taken away My wool and My flax, covering her nakedness.
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 reveal her dishonor before the eyes of her lovers, And none deliver her out of 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 have caused all her joy to cease, Her festival, her new moon, and her Sabbath, Even all her appointed times,
And I will cause all her mirth to cease: her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths! and all her solemnities.
12 And made desolate her vine and her fig tree, Of which she said, They [are] a wage to me, That my lovers have given to me, And I have made them for a forest, And a beast of the field has consumed them.
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 have charged on her the days of the Ba‘alim, To whom she makes incense, And puts on her ring and her ornament, And goes after her lovers, And forgot Me,” a declaration of YHWH.
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 “Therefore, behold, I am enticing her, And have caused her to go to the wilderness, And I have spoken to her heart,
Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart.
15 And given to her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she has responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day of her coming up out of 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 has come to pass in that day,” A declaration of YHWH, “You call Me: My husband, And do not call Me anymore: My lord.
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 have turned aside the names of the lords from her mouth, And they are not remembered anymore by 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 I have made a covenant for them in that day, With the beast of the field, And with the bird of the heavens, And the creeping thing of the ground, And bow, and sword, and war I break from off the land, And have caused them to lie down confidently.
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 have betrothed you to Me for all time, And betrothed you to Me in righteousness, And in judgment, and kindness, and mercies,
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 betrothed you to Me in faithfulness, And you have known YHWH.
and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know Jehovah.
21 And it has come to pass in that day, I answer,” A declaration of YHWH, “I answer the heavens, and they answer 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 earth answers the grain, And the new wine, and the oil, And they answer Jezreel.
and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel.
23 And I have sowed her to Me in the land, And I have pitied Lo-Ruhamah, And I have said to Lo-Ammi, You [are] My people, And he says, 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.

< Hosea 2 >