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The Lord and Israel His Spouse[a]

Accuse your mother, accuse!
    for she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband.[b]
Let her remove her prostitution from her face.
    her adultery from between her breasts,

Or I will strip her naked,[c]
    leaving her as on the day of her birth;
I will make her like the wilderness,
    make her like an arid land,
    and let her die of thirst.
I will have no pity on her children,
    for they are children of prostitution.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:4–25 The section contains three oracles of doom (vv. 4–6, 7–9, 10–15), a transition (vv. 16–17), and three oracles of salvation (vv. 18–19, 20–22, 23–25).
  2. 2:4 The Lord speaks of Israel, still using the example of Hosea’s wife.
  3. 2:5 I will strip her naked: it was the husband’s responsibility to provide food and clothing for his wife (Ex 21:10) and now, because of her adultery, he takes back his support.