1Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.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
English Standard Version
Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished
1[1] Say to your brothers, “You are my people,”[2] and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”[3] (Ho 1:6; Ho 1:9)2“Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; (Isa 50:1; Eze 16:25; Ho 4:12)3lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and kill her with thirst. (Eze 16:4; Eze 16:39; Eze 19:13; Ho 2:9)4Upon her children also I will have no mercy, because they are children of whoredom. (Ho 1:2; Ho 1:6)5For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted 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.’ (Jer 44:17; Ho 1:2; Ho 2:8; Ho 2:12)6Therefore I will hedge up her[4] way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. (Job 3:23; Job 19:8; La 3:7; La 3:9)7She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ (Isa 54:5; Lu 15:17)8And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. (De 7:13; Isa 1:3; Eze 16:17; Eze 16:19; Ho 2:20; Ho 13:2)9Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. (Ho 2:3; Joe 1:10)10Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. (La 1:8; Eze 16:37; Eze 23:29)11And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. (Isa 1:13; Jer 7:34; Ho 9:5; Am 8:5; Am 8:10)12And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them. (Isa 5:5; Ho 2:5; Ho 13:8; Mic 1:7)13And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord. (Isa 61:10; Eze 23:40; Ho 4:9; Ho 11:2; Ho 13:1)
The Lord’s Mercy on Israel
14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. (Isa 40:2; Eze 20:35)15And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor[5] a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. (Jer 2:2; Eze 16:22; Eze 16:60; Ho 9:10; Ho 11:1)16“And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ (Ho 2:18; Ho 2:21)17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. (Ex 23:13; Zep 1:4; Zec 13:2)18And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish[6] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. (Le 26:5; Job 5:23; Ps 46:9; Isa 2:4; Isa 9:5; Jer 23:6; Eze 34:25; Eze 39:9)19And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. (Jer 3:14; Eze 43:7; Ho 2:7; Ho 2:16; 2Co 11:2)20I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. (Jer 31:34; Ho 2:19; Joh 17:3)21“And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, (Ho 2:16; Zec 8:12)22and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel,[7] (Ho 1:4; Ho 1:11)23and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy,[8] and I will say to Not My People,[9] ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’” (Le 26:12; Jer 31:33; Eze 36:9; Ho 1:6; Ho 1:9; Ho 1:10; Ho 2:1; Zec 13:9; Ro 9:25; 1Pe 2:10)