Hosea 2:14-3:5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
14 Therefore, I will now allure her
and bring her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.(A)
15 From there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she shall respond as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.(B)
16 On that day, says the Lord, you will call me “my husband,” and no longer will you call me “my Baal.”[a] 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more.(C) 18 I will make for you[b] a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground, and I will abolish[c] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you[d] lie down in safety.(D) 19 And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.(E) 20 I will take you for my wife in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.(F)
21 On that day I will answer, 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,[e](G)
23 and I will sow him[f] for myself in the land.
And I will have pity on Lo-ruhamah,[g]
and I will say to Lo-ammi,[h] “You are my people,”
and he shall say, “You are my God.”(H)
Further Assurances of God’s Redeeming Love
3 The Lord said to me again, “Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”(I) 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of barley and a measure of wine.[i](J) 3 And I said to her, “You must remain as mine for many days; you shall not prostitute yourself; you shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I with you.” 4 For the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim.(K) 5 Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; they shall come in awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.(L)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.