Hosea 2

1 “Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’

2 Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.

3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst.

4 I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.

5 For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’

6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.

7 She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband, for then I was better off than now.’

8 For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal.

9 Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.

10 And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.

11 I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.

12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers. So I will make them into a thicket, and the beasts of the field will devour them.

13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she adorned herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.

14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.

15 There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

16 In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’

17 For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.

18 On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and battle in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.

19 So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.

20 And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”

21 “On that day I will respond—” declares the LORD—“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth.

22 And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

23 And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

1 ¶ Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

2 Plead 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;

3 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 like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

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

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

7 And 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.

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

9 Therefore 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.

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

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

12 And 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.

13 And 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.

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

15 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 shall be at that day, saith the LORD, [that] thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

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

18 And 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.

19 And 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.

20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

21 And 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;

22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

23 And 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.

2 Speak judgment against your mother, saying, She is not my wife, and I will not have her. Put away her fornication from her face, and her adultery from her breasts,

3 Lest I strip her naked, and present her as she was when she was born, and make her as a desolation, and as a dry land, and cause her to die of thirst,

4 And I will not have mercy on their children; for they are the children of harlots,

5 And her mother is a harlot, and she that bare her is shameful, and saith, I will go after my lovers, which give me bread, and water, and wool, and flax, and oil, and drink.

6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and will put a wall before it, that it shall not find its way,

7 And if she go after her lovers, that she take them not, and if she seek them, that she find them not, and say: I will go again to my former husband, when I was better than I am now.

8 For she will not know that I am he that giveth her corn, and wine, and oil, and have given her much silver and gold, which they have used for Baal.

9 Therefore will I take again my corn and my wine in their season, and take away my wool and my flax, that they may cover their shame.

10 And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said unto them: Ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them, O ye children of the living God!

10 Now will I expose their shame in the sight of their lovers, and none shall deliver them out of mine hand.

11 For the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall come together, and shall cleave to one head, and shall go up out of the land: for the day of Jezreel shall be a great day. Ch. 2, v. 1. Say to your brethren, they are my people; and to your sister, she is in grace.

11 And I will make an end of all their joys, and of their feasts, and of their new moons, and of their sabbaths, and of all their holy days.

12 I will make her vines and her fig trees desolate; because she saith, This is my reward, which my lovers give me. I will make a forest of it, and the wild beasts shall eat it.

13 So will I visit upon her the days of Baalim, to whom she burneth incense; and she adorneth herself with her headdresses and her collars, and goeth after her lovers, and forgetteth me, saith the LORD.

14 Therefore, behold, I will entice her, and will bring her into a wilderness, and will speak kindly unto her.

15 And I will give her her vineyards out of the same place, and the valley of Achor, to open her hope. And there shall she sing, as in the days of her youth, when she came forth out of the land of Egypt.

16 Then saith the LORD, Thou shalt call me my husband, and shalt call me no more my Baal.

17 For I will put away the names of Baalim from their mouths, and they shall remember them no more.

18 And I will make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heaven, and with the creeping things of the earth; and I will break the bow, and the sword, and the war, from off the land, and will make them dwell safely.

19 I will betroth myself unto thee for ever: I will trust in thee in righteousness and in judgment, in mercy and in grace;

20 Yea, in faith will I betroth myself unto thee; and thou shalt know the LORD.

21 In that day, saith the LORD, will I hear; I will hear heaven; and heaven shall hear the earth.

22 And the earth shall yield corn, and wine, and oil: and they shall yield Jezreel.

23 And I will keep them for my seed upon the earth, and will have mercy upon them that were in disgrace, and will say unto them that were not my people, Thou art my people: and they shall say, Thou art my God.