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16 Therefore,[a] I will allure her now;
    I will lead her into the wilderness(A)
    and speak persuasively to her.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:16 Therefore: this word in Hebrew normally introduces an oracle of doom; here, surprisingly, it leads to hope. Allure: as though seducing a virgin (Ex 22:15–16). Ordinarily this word connotes deception (Jgs 14:15; 16:5; 1 Kgs 22:20–22).

16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;(A)
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal

17 Then I will give her the vineyards she had,
    and the valley of Achor[a] as a door of hope.(A)
There she will respond as in the days of her youth,
    as on the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

18 On that day—oracle of the Lord
You shall call me “My husband,”
    and you shall never again call me “My baal.”[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 2:17 Valley of Achor: lit., valley of trouble (Jos 7:26). Here this valley becomes a valley of hope, a new entry into the promised land.
  2. 2:18–19 Baal: the word means “lord, master.” It was commonly used by women of their husbands, but it is to be shunned as a title for the Lord because of its association with the fertility gods, the Baals. Many Israelites saw little if any difference between the worship of the Lord and the worship of the Baals, thereby dishonoring the true source of the land’s fertility.

17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(A)
    no longer will their names be invoked.(B)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
    with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
    and the creatures that move along the ground.(C)
Bow and sword and battle
    I will abolish(D) from the land,
    so that all may lie down in safety.(E)

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21 I will betroth you to me forever:
    I will betroth you to me with[a] justice and with judgment,
    with loyalty and with compassion;
22 I will betroth you to me with fidelity,
    and you shall know the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:21–22 Betroth…with: the betrothal was the legal moment before cohabitation when the dowry was paid to the father of the bride. In this remarriage the Lord gives the bride price to Israel herself “forever.” Justice…judgment: refer to equity and fairness of conduct. The next two terms, “loyalty” (hesed), the steadfast love between the covenant partners, and “compassion,” maternal love (cf. 1:6; 2:3, 25) are characteristic of Hosea. You shall know: not an abstract but a practical knowledge which means acknowledgment of God’s will and obedience to his law (4:1; 5:4; 6:3, 6).

21 “In that day I will respond,”
    declares the Lord
“I will respond(A) to the skies,
    and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
    the new wine and the olive oil,(B)
    and they will respond to Jezreel.[a](C)

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.