Hosea 2:2-13

New American Standard Bible 1995

² “Contend with your mother, ^(A)contend,
For she is ^(B)not my wife, and I am not her husband;
And let her put away her ^(C)harlotry from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
³ Or I will strip her ^(D)naked
And expose her as on the ^(E)day when she was born.
I will also ^(F)make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land
And slay her with ^(G)thirst.
⁴ “Also, I will have no compassion on her children,
Because they are ^(H)children of harlotry.
⁵ “For their mother has ^(I)played the harlot;
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)hedge up ^[a]her way with ^(N)thorns,
And I will build ^[b]a wall against her so that she cannot find her ^(O)paths.
⁷ “She will ^(P)pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake 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,
For it was ^(S)better for me then than now!’