Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

[a]Say to your brothers, “[b]Ammi,” and to your sisters, “[c]Ruhamah.”

“Dispute with your mother, (A)dispute,
Because she is (B)not my wife, and I am not her husband;
But she must remove her (C)infidelity from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
Otherwise, I will strip her (D)naked
And expose her as on the (E)day she was born.
I will also (F)make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land,
And put her to death with (G)thirst.
Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are (H)children of infidelity.
For their mother has (I)committed prostitution;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘(J)I will go after my lovers,
Who (K)give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my (L)oil and my drink.’
Therefore, behold, I will (M)obstruct [d]her way with (N)thorns,
And I will build [e]a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her (O)paths.
And she will (P)pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘(Q)I will go back to my (R)first husband,
Because it was (S)better for me then than now!’

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Heb
  2. Hosea 2:1 I.e., my people
  3. Hosea 2:1 I.e., she has obtained compassion
  4. Hosea 2:6 As in some ancient versions; MT your
  5. Hosea 2:6 Lit her stone wall so that

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