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 unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ru–hamah.

²Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

³Lest 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.

⁴And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.

⁵For 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.

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

⁷And 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.

⁸For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

⁹Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.

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

¹¹I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

¹²And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

¹³And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord.

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

¹⁵And 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.

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

¹⁷For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

¹⁸And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

¹⁹And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

²⁰I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know 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 they shall hear Jezreel.

²³And 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 which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.