Hosea 2
New American Standard Bible
Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned
2 [a]Say to your brothers, “[b]Ammi,” and to your sisters, “[c]Ruhamah.”
2 “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,
3 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.
4 Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are (H)children of infidelity.
5 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.’
6 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.
7 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!’
8 “Yet she does (T)not know that it was (U)I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they [f]used for Baal.
9 Therefore, I will [g](V)take back My grain at [h]harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
That I gave to cover her nakedness.
10 So now I will (W)uncover her [i]lewdness
Before the eyes of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11 I will also (X)put an end to all her joy,
Her (Y)feasts, her (Z)new moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
12 And I will (AA)destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will (AB)turn them into a forest,
And the (AC)animals of the field will devour them.
13 I will punish her for the (AD)days of the Baals
When she used to [j](AE)offer sacrifices to them
And (AF)adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she (AG)forgot Me,” declares the Lord.
Restoration of Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
(AH)Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak [k]kindly to her.
15 Then I will give her her (AI)vineyards from there,
And (AJ)the [l]Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will [m](AK)respond there as in the days of her youth,
As in the (AL)day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
16 And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me [n](AM)my husband
And no longer call Me my [o]Baal.
17 For (AN)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will no longer be [p]mentioned by their names.
18 On that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the (AO)animals of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the crawling things of the ground.
And I will [q](AP)eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
And will let them (AQ)lie down in safety.
19 I will (AR)betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in (AS)righteousness and in justice,
In favor and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will (AT)know the Lord.
21 “And it will come about on that day that (AU)I will respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22 And the (AV)earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil,
And they will respond to [r]Jezreel.
23 I will (AW)sow her for Myself in the land.
(AX)I will also have compassion on [s]her who had not obtained compassion,
And (AY)I will say to [t]those who were (AZ)not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And [u]they will say, ‘You are my God!’”
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Heb
- Hosea 2:1 I.e., my people
- Hosea 2:1 I.e., she has obtained compassion
- Hosea 2:6 As in some ancient versions; MT your
- Hosea 2:6 Lit her stone wall so that
- Hosea 2:8 Or made into the
- Hosea 2:9 Lit return and take My
- Hosea 2:9 Lit its time
- Hosea 2:10 Or shame
- Hosea 2:13 Or burn incense
- Hosea 2:14 Lit upon her heart
- Hosea 2:15 Lit Valley of Trouble
- Hosea 2:15 Or give answer
- Hosea 2:16 Heb Ishi
- Hosea 2:16 Also meaning husband in Heb, besides a name for false gods
- Hosea 2:17 Or remembered
- Hosea 2:18 Lit break
- Hosea 2:22 I.e., God sows
- Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ruhamah
- Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ammi
- Hosea 2:23 Lit he
Hosea 2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Israel’s Adultery Rebuked
2 Rebuke your mother; rebuke her.(A)
For she is not My wife and I am not her husband.(B)
Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face(C)
and her adultery from between her breasts.
3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked(D)
and expose her as she was on the day of her birth.
I will make her like a desert(E)
and like a parched land,
and I will let her die of thirst.(F)
4 I will have no compassion on her children(G)
because they are the children of promiscuity.
5 Yes, their mother is promiscuous;
she conceived them and acted shamefully.(H)
For she thought, “I will go after my lovers,(I)
the men who give me my food and water,
my wool and flax, my oil and drink.”(J)
6 Therefore, this is what I will do:
I will block her[c] way(K) with thorns;(L)
I will enclose her with a wall,
so that she cannot find her paths.(M)
7 She will pursue her lovers but not catch them;(N)
she will seek them but not find them.
Then she will think,
“I will go back to my former husband,(O)
for then it was better for me than now.”(P)
8 She does not recognize(Q)
that it is I who gave her the grain,(R)
the new wine, and the oil.
I lavished silver and gold on her,
which they used for Baal.
9 Therefore, I will take back My grain in its time(S)
and My new wine in its season;
I will take away My wool and linen,
which were to cover her nakedness.
10 Now I will expose her shame(T)
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one will rescue her from My hands.
11 I will put an end to all her celebrations:(U)
her feasts,(V) New Moons,(W) and Sabbaths—
all her festivals.
12 I will devastate her vines and fig trees.(X)
She thinks that these are her wages
that her lovers have given her.
I will turn them into a thicket,(Y)
and the wild animals will eat them.(Z)
13 And I will punish her for the days of the Baals(AA)
when she burned incense to them,(AB)
put on her rings and jewelry,(AC)
and went after her lovers,
but forgot Me.(AD)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Israel’s Adultery Forgiven
14 Therefore, I am going to persuade her,
lead her to the wilderness,(AE)
and speak tenderly to her.[d]
15 There I will give her vineyards back to her(AF)
and make the Valley of Achor[e](AG)
into a gateway of hope.
There she will respond as she did
in the days of her youth,(AH)
as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 In that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will call Me, “My husband,”(AI)
and no longer call Me, “My Baal.”[f]
17 For I will remove the names of the Baals
from her mouth;
they will no longer be remembered by their names.
18 On that day I will make a covenant for them
with the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the creatures that crawl on the ground.(AJ)
I will shatter bow, sword,
and weapons of war in the land[g](AK)
and will enable the people to rest securely.(AL)
19 I will take you to be My wife forever.(AM)
I will take you to be My wife in righteousness,
justice, love, and compassion.(AN)
20 I will take you to be My wife in faithfulness,
and you will know Yahweh.(AO)
21 On that day I will respond(AP)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will respond to the sky,
and it will respond to the earth.
22 The earth will respond to the grain,(AQ)
the new wine, and the oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.
23 I will sow her[h] in the land for Myself,(AR)
and I will have compassion(AS)
on No Compassion;
I will say(AT) to Not My People:(AU)
You are My people,(AV)
and he will say, “You are My God.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:1 Hs 2:3 in Hb
- Hosea 2:1 Lit Say to
- Hosea 2:6 LXX, Syr; MT reads your
- Hosea 2:14 Lit speak to her heart
- Hosea 2:15 = Trouble
- Hosea 2:16 Or My master
- Hosea 2:18 Or war on the earth
- Hosea 2:23 = Israel
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