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God Speaks About Israel

“Plead with your mother.[a]
    Plead with her because she no longer acts like a wife to me.
    And I am not treated like her husband.
Tell her to stop acting like a prostitute.
    Tell her to stop behaving like an unfaithful wife.
If she refuses, I will strip her naked.
    I will leave her bare like the day she was born.
I will make her dry like a desert.
    I will make her like a land without water.
    I will kill her with thirst.
I will not take pity on her children.
    They are the children of an unfaithful wife.
Their mother has acted like a prostitute.
    The one who became pregnant with them has acted disgracefully.
She said, ‘I will chase after my lovers.[b]
    They give me food and water.
They give me wool and linen.
    They give me wine and olive oil.’

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Footnotes

  1. 2:2 mother This refers to the nation of Israel here.
  2. 2:5 lovers This refers to the nations surrounding Israel, who led Israel to worship false gods.

Israel Punished and Restored

“Rebuke your mother,(A) rebuke her,
    for she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous(B) look from her face
    and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
Otherwise I will strip(C) her naked
    and make her as bare as on the day she was born;(D)
I will make her like a desert,(E)
    turn her into a parched land,
    and slay her with thirst.
I will not show my love to her children,(F)
    because they are the children of adultery.(G)
Their mother has been unfaithful
    and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(H)
    who give me my food and my water,
    my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(I)

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