Hosea 2

¹Sei ye to youre britheren, Thei ben my puple; and to youre sister that hath gete merci,

²Deme ye youre modir, deme ye, for sche is not my wijf, and Y am not hir hosebonde. Do sche awey hir fornicaciouns fro hir face, and hir auowtries fro the myddis of hir brestis;

³lest perauenture Y spuyle hir nakid, and sette hir nakid bi the dai of hir natyuyte. And Y schal sette hir as a wildirnesse, and Y schal ordeyne hir as a lond with out weie, and Y schal sle hir in thirst.

⁴And Y schal not haue merci on the sones of hir, for thei ben sones of fornicaciouns;

⁵for the modir of hem dide fornicacioun, sche is schent that conseyuede hem, for sche seide, Y schal go after my louyeris that yeuen looues to me, and my watris, and my wolle, and my flex, and myn oile, and my drynke.

⁶For this thing lo! Y schal hegge thi weie with thornes, and Y schal hegge it with a wal, and sche schal not fynde hir pathis.

⁷And sche schal sue hir louyeris, and schal not take hem, and sche schal seke hem, and schal not fynde; and sche schal seie, Y schal go, and turne ayen to my formere hosebonde, for it was wel to me thanne more than now.

⁸And this Jerusalem wiste not, that Y yaf to hir wheete, wyn, and oile; and Y multiplied siluer and gold to hir, whiche thei maden to Baal.

⁹Therfor Y schal turne, and take my wheete in his tyme, and my wiyn in his tyme; and Y schal delyuere my wolle, and my flex, bi which thei hiliden the schenschipe therof.

¹⁰And now Y schal schewe the foli of hir bifore the iyen of hir louyeris, and a man schal not delyuere hir fro myn hond;

¹¹and Y schal make to ceesse al the ioye therof, the solempnyte therof, the neomenye therof, the sabat therof, and alle the feeste tymes therof.

¹²And Y schal distrie the vyner therof, of whiche sche seide, These ben myn hiris, whiche my louyeris yauen to me; and Y schal sette it in to a forest, and a beeste of the feeld schal ete it.

¹³And Y schal visite on it the daies of Baalym, in whiche it brente encense, and was ourned with hir eere ryng, and hir broche, and yede after hir louyeris, and foryat me, seith the Lord.

¹⁴For this thing lo! Y schal yyue mylk to it, and Y schal brynge it in to wildirnesse, and Y schal speke to the herte therof.

¹⁵And Y schal yyue to it vyn tilieris therof of the same place, and the valei of Achar, that is, of disturblyng, for to opene hope. And it schal synge there bi the daies of hir yongthe, and bi the daies of hir stiyng fro the lond of Egipt.

¹⁶And it schal be in that dai, seith the Lord, sche schal clepe me Myn hosebonde, and sche schal no more clepe me Baalym;

¹⁷and Y schal take awei the names of Baalym fro hir mouth, and sche schal no more haue mynde of the name of tho.

¹⁸And Y schal smyte to hem a boond of pees in that dai with the beeste of the feeld, and with the brid of the eir, and with the crepynge beeste of erthe. And Y schal al to-breke bowe, and swerd, and batel fro erthe; and Y schal make hem to slepe tristili.

¹⁹And Y schal spouse thee to me withouten ende; and Y schal spouse thee to me in riytfulnesse, and in dom, and in merci, and in merciful doyngis.

²⁰And Y schal spouse thee to me in feith; and thou schalt wite, that Y am the Lord.

²¹And it schal be, in that dai Y schal here, seith the Lord, and Y schal here heuenes, and tho schulen here the erthe;

²²and the erthe schal here wheete, and wyn, and oile, and these schulen here Jesrael.

²³And Y schal sowe it to me in to a lond, and Y schal haue merci on it that was with out merci.

²⁴And Y schal seie to that, that is not my puple, Thou art my puple, and it schal seie, Thou art 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.