Hosea 2:9-4:6
New King James Version
9 “Therefore I will return and take away
My grain in its time
And My new wine in its season,
And will take back My wool and My linen,
Given to cover her nakedness.
10 Now (A)I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,
And no one shall deliver her from My hand.
11 (B)I will also cause all her mirth to cease,
Her feast days,
Her New Moons,
Her Sabbaths—
All her appointed feasts.
12 “And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
Of which she has said,
‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’
So I will make them a forest,
And the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13 I will punish her
For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense.
She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry,
And went after her lovers;
But Me she forgot,” says the Lord.
God’s Mercy on His People
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak [a]comfort to her.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And (C)the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in (D)the days of her youth,
(E)As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 “And it shall be, in that day,”
Says the Lord,
“That you will call Me [b]‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me [c]‘My Master,’
17 For (F)I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more.
18 In that day I will make a (G)covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
With the birds of the air,
And with the creeping things of the ground.
Bow and sword of battle (H)I will shatter from the earth,
To make them (I)lie down safely.
19 “I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy;
20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And (J)you shall know the Lord.
21 “It shall come to pass in that day
That (K)I will answer,” says the Lord;
“I will answer the heavens,
And they shall answer the earth.
22 The earth shall answer
With grain,
With new wine,
And with oil;
They shall answer [d]Jezreel.
23 Then (L)I will sow her for Myself in the earth,
(M)And I will have mercy on her who had [e]not obtained mercy;
Then (N)I will say to those who were [f]not My people,
‘You are [g]My people!’
And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”
Israel Will Return to God
3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a (O)lover[h] and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.”
2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You shall (P)stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.”
4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days (Q)without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without (R)ephod or (S)teraphim. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and (T)seek the Lord their God and (U)David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the (V)latter days.
God’s Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord,
You children of Israel,
For the Lord brings a (W)charge[i] against the inhabitants of the land:
“There is no truth or mercy
Or (X)knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing and lying,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed [j]upon bloodshed.
3 Therefore (Y)the land will mourn;
And (Z)everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
4 “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;
For your people are like those (AA)who contend with the priest.
5 Therefore you shall stumble (AB)in the day;
The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother.
6 (AC)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
(AD)Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:14 Lit. to her heart
- Hosea 2:16 Heb. Ishi
- Hosea 2:16 Heb. Baali
- Hosea 2:22 Lit. God Will Sow
- Hosea 2:23 Heb. lo-ruhamah
- Hosea 2:23 Heb. lo-ammi
- Hosea 2:23 Heb. ammi
- Hosea 3:1 Lit. friend or husband
- Hosea 4:1 A legal complaint
- Hosea 4:2 Lit. touching
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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