Hosea 2
Revised Standard Version
2 [a] Say to your brother,[b] “My people,” and to your sister,[c] “She has obtained pity.”
Israel’s Infidelity, Punishment, and Redemption
2 “Plead with your mother, plead—
for she is not my wife,
and I am 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 make her as in the day she was born,
and make her like a wilderness,
and set her like a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
4 Upon her children also I will have no pity,
because they are children of harlotry.
5 For their mother has played the harlot;
she that conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
who give me my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
6 Therefore I will hedge up her[d] way with thorns;
and I will build a wall against her,
so that she cannot find her paths.
7 She shall pursue her lovers,
but not overtake them;
and she shall seek them,
but shall not find them.
Then she shall say, ‘I will go
and return to my first husband,
for it was better with me then than now.’
8 And she did not know
that it was I who gave her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished upon her silver
and gold which they used for Ba′al.
9 Therefore I will take back
my grain in its time,
and my wine in its season;
and I will take away my wool and my flax,
which were to cover her nakedness.
10 Now I will uncover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
11 And I will put an end to all her mirth,
her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths,
and all her appointed feasts.
12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
of which she said,
‘These are my hire,
which my lovers have given me.’
I will make them a forest,
and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
13 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Ba′als
when she burned incense to them
and decked herself with her ring and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
and forgot me, says the Lord.
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards,
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 “And in that day, says the Lord, you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no longer will you call me, ‘My Ba′al.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Ba′als from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. 18 And I will make for you[e] a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish[f] the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.
21 “And in that day, says the Lord,
I will answer the heavens
and they shall answer the earth;
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel;[g]
23 and I will sow him[h] for myself in the land.
And I will have pity on Not pitied,
and I will say to Not my people, ‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘Thou art my God.’”
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:1 Ch 2.3 in Heb
- Hosea 2:1 Gk: Heb brothers
- Hosea 2:1 Gk Vg: Heb sisters
- Hosea 2:6 Gk Syr: Heb your
- Hosea 2:18 Heb them
- Hosea 2:18 Heb break
- Hosea 2:22 That is God sows
- Hosea 2:23 Cn: Heb her
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.
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