Hosea 2

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

²Judge 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.

³Otherwise, 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.

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

⁵For 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.’

⁶Because 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.

⁷And 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.’

⁸And 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.

⁹For 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.

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

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

¹²And 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.

¹³And 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.

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

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶And 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.’

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

¹⁸And 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.

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

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

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

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

²³And I will plant her for me in the land, and I will have mercy on her, though she had been called Without Mercy.

²⁴And I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”

Hosea 2

¹Say ye to your brethren: You are my people: and to your sister: Thou hast obtained mercy.

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

³Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born: and I will make her as a wilderness, and will set her as a land that none can pass through and will kill her with drought.

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

⁵For their mother hath committed fornication, she that conceived them is covered with shame: for she said: I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread, and my water, my wool, and my flax, my oil, and my drink.

⁶Wherefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will stop it up with a wall, and she shall not find her paths.

⁷And she shall follow after her lovers, and shall not overtake them: and she shall seek them, and shall not find, and she shall say: I will go, and return to my first husband: because it was better with me then than now.

⁸And she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver, and gold, which they have used in the service of Baal.

⁹Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in its season, and my wine in its season, and I will set at liberty my wool, and my flax, which covered her disgrace.

¹⁰And now I will lay open her folly in the eyes of her lovers: and no man shall deliver her out of my hand:

¹¹And I will cause all her mirth to cease, her solemnities, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her festival times.

¹²And I will destroy her vines, and her fig trees, of which she said: These are my rewards, which my lovers have given me: and I will make her as a forest and the beasts of the field shall devour her.

¹³And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, to whom she burnt incense, and decked herself out with her earrings, and with her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord.

¹⁴Therefore, behold I will allure her, and will lead her into the wilderness: and I will speak to her heart.

¹⁵And I will give her vinedressers out of the same place, and the valley of Achor for an opening of hope: and she shall sing there according to the days of her youth, and according to the days of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁶And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord: That she shall call me: My husband, and she shall call me no more Baali.

¹⁷And I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and she shall no more remember their name.

¹⁸And in that day I will make a covenant with them, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the air, and with the creeping things of the earth: and I will destroy the bow, and the sword, and war out of the land: and I will make them sleep secure.

¹⁹And I will espouse thee to me for ever: and I will espouse thee to me in justice, and judgment, and in mercy, and in commiserations.

²⁰And I will espouse thee to me in faith: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

²¹And it shall come to pass in that day: I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth.

²²And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and these shall hear Jezrahel.

²³And I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy on her that was without mercy.

²⁴And I will say to that which is not my people: Thou art my people: and they shall say: Thou art my God.