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.

Hosea 2

¹Say to your brothers, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

²Take up the cause against your mother, take it up, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; let her put away her loose ways from her face, and her false ways from between her breasts;

³For fear that I may take away her robe from her, making her uncovered as in the day of her birth; making her like a waste place and a dry land, causing her death through need of water.

⁴And I will have no mercy on her children, for they are the children of her loose ways.

⁵For their mother has been untrue; she who gave them birth has done things of shame, for she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my wine.

⁶For this cause I will put thorns in her road, building up a wall round her so that she may not go on her way.

⁷And if she goes after her lovers she will not overtake them; if she makes search for them she will not see them; then will she say, I will go back to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.

⁸For she had no knowledge that it was I who gave her the grain and the wine and the oil, increasing her silver and gold which they gave to the Baal.

⁹So I will take away again my grain in its time and my wine, and I will take away my wool and my linen with which her body might have been covered.

¹⁰And now I will make her shame clear before the eyes of her lovers, and no one will take her out of my hand.

¹¹And I will put an end to all her joy, her feasts, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her regular meetings.

¹²And I will make waste her vines and her fig-trees, of which she has said, These are the payments which my lovers have made to me; and I will make them a waste of trees, and the beasts of the field will take them for food.

¹³And I will give her punishment for the days of the Baals, to whom she has been burning perfumes, when she made herself fair with her nose-rings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, giving no thought to me, says the Lord.

¹⁴For this cause I will make her come into the waste land and will say words of comfort to her.

¹⁵And I will give her vine-gardens from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will give her answer there as in the days when she was young, and as in the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁶And in that day, says the Lord, you will say to me, Ishi; and you will never again give me the name of Baali;

¹⁷For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and never again will she say their names.

¹⁸And in that day I will make an agreement for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven and the things which go low on the earth; I will put an end to the bow and the sword and war in all the land, and will make them take their rest in peace.

¹⁹And I will take you as my bride for ever; truly, I will take you as my bride in righteousness and in right judging, in love and in mercies.

²⁰I will take you as my bride in good faith, and you will have knowledge of the Lord.

²¹And it will be, in that day, says the Lord, that I will give an answer to the heavens, and the heavens to the earth;

²²And the earth will give its answer to the grain and the wine and the oil, and they will give an answer to Jezreel;

²³And I will put her as seed in the earth, and I will have mercy on her to whom no mercy was given; and I will say to those who were not my people, You are my people, and they will say, My God.