Hosea 2

1 “Say to your brothers, ‘My people!’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one!’

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

2 Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Judge 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.

3 lest I strip her naked, and make her bare as in the day that she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.

Otherwise, 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.

4 Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy, for they are children of unfaithfulness.

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

5 For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; 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.’

For 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.’

6 Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can’t find her way.

Because 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.

7 She will follow after her lovers, but she won’t overtake them; and she will seek them, but won’t find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better with me than now.’

And 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.’

8 For she didn’t know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

And 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.

9 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my new wine in its season, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

For 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.

10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of my hand.

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

11 I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

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

12 I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me,’ and I will make them a forest, and the animals of the field shall eat them.

And 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.

13 I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers and forgot me,” says the LORD.

And 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 “Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

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

15 I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will respond there as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

And 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.

16 It will be in that day,” says the LORD, “that you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer call me ‘my master.’

And 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.’

17 For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.

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

18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.

And 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.

19 I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.

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

20 I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.

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

21 It will happen in that day, that I will respond,” says the LORD. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;

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

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

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

23 I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘You are My God!’”

And I will plant her for me in the land, and I will have mercy on her, though she had been called Without Mercy. And I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”