Hosea 2
Modern English Version
2 Say to your brothers, Ammi,[a] and to your sisters, Ruhamah.[b]
Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished
2 Plead with your mother, plead—
for she is not My wife,
and am I not her husband—
that she put away her harlotry from her face,
and her adultery from between her breasts,
3 lest I strip her naked
and leave her as in the day that she was born,
and turn her into a wilderness,
and turn her into a dry land,
and kill her with thirst.
4 I will not have mercy upon her children,
for they are children of harlotry.
5 For their mother has played the whore.
She that conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will pursue my lovers,
who provide my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.”
6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns,
and make a wall, so that she will not find her paths.
7 She will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
and she will seek them but will not find them.
Then she will say,
“I will go and return to my first husband,
for it was better for me then than now.”
8 But she did not know that it was I who provided her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and multiplied her silver and gold
that they used for Baal.
9 Therefore I will take back My grain in its time
and My wine in its season,
and I will recover My wool and My flax,
given to cover her nakedness.
10 Therefore I will uncover her shame
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one will deliver her from My hand.
11 I will also bring to an end all her joy,
her annual feasts, her New Moons,
and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
12 I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
of which she has said, “These are my rewards that my lovers have given me.”
I will make them a forest,
and the beasts of the field will eat them.
13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals,
when she burned incense to them
and adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry,
and pursued her lovers,
but forgot Me,
declares the Lord.
God’s Mercy on Israel
14 Therefore, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 From there, I will give her vineyards to her,
and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
She will respond there as in the days of her youth,
and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 On that day, declares the Lord,
you will call Me, “My husband,”
and will no longer call Me, “My Baal.”[c]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
and they will no longer be remembered by their name.
18 On that day, I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, with the fowls of heaven,
and with the creeping things of the ground.
I will break the bow and the sword and the battle
from the earth,
and will make them to lie down safely.
19 I will take you for My wife forever.
I will take you for My wife in righteousness and in justice,
in mercy and in compassion.
20 I will take you for My wife in faithfulness,
and you will know the Lord.
21 On that day I will answer,
declares the Lord;
I will answer the heavens,
and they will answer the earth.
22 The earth will answer the grain,
the wine, and the oil;
and they will answer Jezreel.
23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth.
I will have mercy upon Lo-Ruhamah,
and I will say to Lo-Ammi, “You are My people,”
and they will say, “You are my God.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:1 That is, My people.
- Hosea 2:1 That is, Pitied.
- Hosea 2:16 Or My master.
Hosea 2
American Standard Version
2 Say ye unto your brethren, [a]Ammi; and to your sisters, [b]Ruhamah.
2 Contend with your mother, contend; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 3 lest 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. 4 Yea, upon her children will I have no mercy; for they are children of whoredom; 5 for 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 [c]drink. 6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she shall not find her paths. 7 And 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.
8 For she did not know that I gave her the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied unto her silver and gold, which they [d]used for Baal. 9 Therefore will I [e]take back my grain in the time thereof, and my new wine in the season thereof, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness. 10 And now will I uncover her [f]lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand. 11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her [g]solemn assemblies. 12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig-trees, whereof she hath said, These are my hire that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13 And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, [h]unto which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her [i]ear-rings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith Jehovah.
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak [j]comfortably unto her. 15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of [k]Achor for a door of hope; and she shall [l]make answer there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. 16 And it shall be at that day, saith Jehovah, that thou shalt call me [m]Ishi, and shalt call me no more [n]Baali. 17 For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be [o]mentioned by their name. 18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely. 19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know Jehovah.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will answer, saith Jehovah, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth; 22 and the earth shall answer the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall answer [p]Jezreel. 23 And I will sow her unto me in the [q]earth; and I will have mercy upon [r]her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to [s]them that were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:1 That is, My people.
- Hosea 2:1 That is, That hath obtained mercy.
- Hosea 2:5 Hebrew drinks.
- Hosea 2:8 Or, made into the image of Baal
- Hosea 2:9 Or, return, and take away
- Hosea 2:10 Or, shame
- Hosea 2:11 Or, appointed feasts
- Hosea 2:13 Or, wherein she burned incense to them
- Hosea 2:13 Or, nose-rings
- Hosea 2:14 Hebrew to her heart.
- Hosea 2:15 That is, Troubling.
- Hosea 2:15 Or, sing
- Hosea 2:16 That is, My husband.
- Hosea 2:16 That is, My master.
- Hosea 2:17 Or, remembered
- Hosea 2:22 That is, Whom God soweth.
- Hosea 2:23 Or, land
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ruhamah. See 1:6.
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ammi. See 1:9, 10.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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