Hosea 2
Expanded Bible
2 “You are to call your brothers, ‘my people [L Ammi; 1:9],’ and your sisters, ‘you have been shown pity [L Ruhama; 1:6–8].’
God Speaks About Israel
2 “·Plead with [or Rebuke; or Accuse; Bring charges against] your mother [C the nation Israel].
·Plead with [or Rebuke; or Accuse; Bring charges against] her, because she is ·no longer [L not] my wife,
and I am ·no longer [L not] her husband.
Tell her to ·stop acting like a prostitute [or take off her prostitute’s make-up; L set aside her harlotries from her presence/face],
·to stop behaving like an unfaithful wife [L and set aside unfaithfulness from between her breasts].
3 If she refuses, I will strip her naked
and ·leave her bare [expose her] like the day she was born.
I will make her dry like a desert,
like a ·land without water [parched land],
and I will kill her with thirst.
4 I will not ·take pity [have mercy/compassion] on her children,
because they are the children of ·a prostitute [or adultery; harlotry].
5 Their mother has ·acted like a prostitute [been unfaithful; committed adultery];
the one who ·became pregnant with [conceived] them has acted ·disgracefully [shamefully].
She said, ‘I will ·chase [seek; go] after my lovers [C the idol-worshiping nations around Israel],
who give me my ·food [bread] and water,
wool and flax, ·wine [L drinks] and olive oil.’
6 So I will ·block her road [or fence/hedge her in] with thornbushes;
I will ·build a wall around her [wall her in]
so she cannot find her way.
7 She will ·run after [pursue] her lovers,
but she won’t catch them.
She will look for them,
but she won’t find them.
Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband [C God],
because life was better then for me than it is now.’
8 But she does not ·know [acknowledge] that I was the one
who gave her grain, new wine, and oil.
I ·gave her much [lavished on her] silver and gold,
but ·she [L they; C the nation] used it for Baal.
9 “So I will come back and take away my grain ·at harvest time [L in its time]
and my new wine ·when it is ready [L in its season/appointed time].
I will take back my wool and ·linen [flax]
that covered her nakedness.
10 So I will ·show her nakedness [uncover her lewdness/shamelessness] to her lovers,
and no one will ·save [rescue] her from ·me [L my hand].
11 I will put an end to all her ·celebrations [merrymaking]:
her yearly festivals, her New Moon festivals, and her Sabbaths.
I will stop all of her ·special [appointed] feasts.
12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
which she said were her pay from her lovers.
I will turn them into a ·forest [overgrown thicket],
and ·wild animals [beasts of the field] will eat them.
13 I will punish her for all the ·times [days; C pagan feast days]
she burned incense to the Baals [C the local gods of the Canaanites worshiped by the Israelites].
She ·put on her [adorned herself with] ·rings [or earrings] and jewelry
and went ·chasing after [out to] her lovers,
but she forgot me!”
says the Lord.
14 “So I am going to ·attract [allure; woo] her;
I will lead her into the ·desert [wilderness; C as in the Exodus, when God rescued Israel from slavery and cared for her; Ex. 12–17]
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and I will make the Valley of ·Trouble [L Achor; C see Josh. 7:1–26] a door of hope.
There she will ·respond [or sing] as ·when she was young [L in the days of her youth],
as when she came out of Egypt.”
16 The Lord says, “In the future she[a] will call me ‘my husband’;
no longer will she[b] call me ‘my baal [C “baal” can mean “husband,” “master,” or “Baal” (the Canaanite god); in this wordplay, Israel has replaced one husband (the Lord) with another (Baal)].’
17 I will ·never let her say [remove from her lips] the names of Baal again;
people won’t ·use [utter; invoke; or remember] their names anymore.
18 At that time I will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] for them
with the ·wild animals [L beasts of the field], the ·birds [L birds of the sky/heavens], and the ·crawling things [T creeping things of the ground].
I will ·smash [shatter; abolish] from the land
the bow and the sword and ·the weapons of war [or war; battle],
so my people will ·live [L lie down] in safety.
19 And I will ·make you my promised bride [L betroth you to me] forever.
I will ·be good and fair [L betroth you in righteousness and justice];
I will show you my ·love [loyalty; unfailing love; lovingkindness] and mercy.
20 I will ·be true to you as my promised bride [L betroth you in faithfulness],
and you will ·know [or acknowledge me as] the Lord.
21 “At that time I will ·speak to you [answer; respond],” says the Lord.
“I will ·speak to [answer; respond to] the ·skies [or heavens],
and they will ·give rain to [L answer; respond to] the earth.
22 The earth will ·produce [L answer/respond with] grain, new wine, and oil;
·much will grow because my people are called [L and they will answer/respond to] Jezreel [C “God plants”; 1:4, 11].
23 I will plant ·my people [L her for myself] in the land,
and I will show pity to the one I had called ‘·not shown pity [L Lo-Ruhamah; 1:6–7].’
I will say, ‘You are my people’
to those I had called ‘·not my people [L Lo-Ammi; 1:9].’
And they will say to me, ‘You are our God.’”
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:16 she Greek, Aramaic and Latin copies read “she.” Hebrew copies read “you.”
- Hosea 2:16 she Greek, Aramaic and Latin copies read “she.” Hebrew copies read “you.”
Hosea 2
Modern English Version
2 Say to your brothers, Ammi,[a] and to your sisters, Ruhamah.[b]
Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished
2 Plead with your mother, plead—
for she is not My wife,
and am I 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 leave her as in the day that she was born,
and turn her into a wilderness,
and turn her into a dry land,
and kill her with thirst.
4 I will not have mercy upon her children,
for they are children of harlotry.
5 For their mother has played the whore.
She that conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will pursue my lovers,
who provide my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.”
6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns,
and make a wall, so that she will not find her paths.
7 She will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
and she will seek them but will not find them.
Then she will say,
“I will go and return to my first husband,
for it was better for me then than now.”
8 But she did not know that it was I who provided her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and multiplied her silver and gold
that they used for Baal.
9 Therefore I will take back My grain in its time
and My wine in its season,
and I will recover My wool and My flax,
given to cover her nakedness.
10 Therefore I will uncover her shame
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one will deliver her from My hand.
11 I will also bring to an end all her joy,
her annual feasts, her New Moons,
and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
12 I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
of which she has said, “These are my rewards that my lovers have given me.”
I will make them a forest,
and the beasts of the field will eat them.
13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals,
when she burned incense to them
and adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry,
and pursued her lovers,
but forgot Me,
declares the Lord.
God’s Mercy on Israel
14 Therefore, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 From there, I will give her vineyards to her,
and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
She will respond there as in the days of her youth,
and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 On that day, declares the Lord,
you will call Me, “My husband,”
and will no longer call Me, “My Baal.”[c]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
and they will no longer be remembered by their name.
18 On that day, I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, with the fowls of heaven,
and with the creeping things of the ground.
I will break the bow and the sword and the battle
from the earth,
and will make them to lie down safely.
19 I will take you for My wife forever.
I will take you for My wife in righteousness and in justice,
in mercy and in compassion.
20 I will take you for My wife in faithfulness,
and you will know the Lord.
21 On that day I will answer,
declares the Lord;
I will answer the heavens,
and they will answer the earth.
22 The earth will answer the grain,
the wine, and the oil;
and they will answer Jezreel.
23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth.
I will have mercy upon Lo-Ruhamah,
and I will say to Lo-Ammi, “You are My people,”
and they will say, “You are my God.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:1 That is, My people.
- Hosea 2:1 That is, Pitied.
- Hosea 2:16 Or My master.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.