Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

[a]Say to your brothers, “[b]Ammi,” and to your sisters, “[c]Ruhamah.”

“Dispute with your mother, (A)dispute,
Because she is (B)not my wife, and I am not her husband;
But she must remove her (C)infidelity from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
Otherwise, I will strip her (D)naked
And expose her as on the (E)day she was born.
I will also (F)make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land,
And put her to death with (G)thirst.
Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are (H)children of infidelity.
For their mother has (I)committed prostitution;
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.’
Therefore, behold, I will (M)obstruct [d]her way with (N)thorns,
And I will build [e]a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her (O)paths.
And she will (P)pursue her lovers, but she will not reach 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,
Because it was (S)better for me then than now!’

“Yet she does (T)not know that it was (U)I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they [f]used for Baal.
Therefore, I will [g](V)take back My grain at [h]harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
That I gave to cover her nakedness.
10 So now I will (W)uncover her [i]lewdness
Before the eyes of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11 I will also (X)put an end to all her joy,
Her (Y)feasts, her (Z)new moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
12 And I will (AA)destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will (AB)turn them into a forest,
And the (AC)animals of the field will devour them.
13 I will punish her for the (AD)days of the Baals
When she used to [j](AE)offer sacrifices to them
And (AF)adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she (AG)forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

14 “Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
(AH)Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak [k]kindly to her.
15 Then I will give her her (AI)vineyards from there,
And (AJ)the [l]Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will [m](AK)respond there as in the days of her youth,
As in the (AL)day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
16 And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me [n](AM)my husband
And no longer call Me my [o]Baal.
17 For (AN)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will no longer be [p]mentioned by their names.
18 On that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the (AO)animals of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the crawling things of the ground.
And I will [q](AP)eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
And will let them (AQ)lie down in safety.
19 I will (AR)betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in (AS)righteousness and in justice,
In favor and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will (AT)know the Lord.

21 “And it will come about on that day that (AU)I will respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22 And the (AV)earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil,
And they will respond to [r]Jezreel.
23 I will (AW)sow her for Myself in the land.
(AX)I will also have compassion on [s]her who had not obtained compassion,
And (AY)I will say to [t]those who were (AZ)not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And [u]they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Heb
  2. Hosea 2:1 I.e., my people
  3. Hosea 2:1 I.e., she has obtained compassion
  4. Hosea 2:6 As in some ancient versions; MT your
  5. Hosea 2:6 Lit her stone wall so that
  6. Hosea 2:8 Or made into the
  7. Hosea 2:9 Lit return and take My
  8. Hosea 2:9 Lit its time
  9. Hosea 2:10 Or shame
  10. Hosea 2:13 Or burn incense
  11. Hosea 2:14 Lit upon her heart
  12. Hosea 2:15 Lit Valley of Trouble
  13. Hosea 2:15 Or give answer
  14. Hosea 2:16 Heb Ishi
  15. Hosea 2:16 Also meaning husband in Heb, besides a name for false gods
  16. Hosea 2:17 Or remembered
  17. Hosea 2:18 Lit break
  18. Hosea 2:22 I.e., God sows
  19. Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ruhamah
  20. Hosea 2:23 Heb Lo-ammi
  21. Hosea 2:23 Lit he

Say ye to your brethren, They be my people; and to your sister(s), That (that) hath gotten mercy, (Say ye to your brothers, They be Ammi, or My People; and to your sisters, Ruhamah, or Ye be loved.)

Deem ye your mother, deem ye, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Do she away her fornications from her face, and her adulteries from the midst of her breasts; (Plead ye with your mother, yea, plead ye with her, for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Do she away her adulteries, or her idolatries, from before her, and her adulteries from the midst of her breasts;)

lest peradventure I spoil her naked, and set her naked by the day of her nativity. And I shall set her as a wilderness, and I shall ordain her as a land without (a) way, and I shall slay her in thirst. (lest perhaps I strip her naked, yea, make her as naked as she was on the day of her birth. And I shall make her as bare as a wilderness, and I shall ordain her as a land without a way, and I shall kill her with thirst.)

And I shall not have mercy on the sons of her, for they be the sons of fornications; (And then I shall not have mercy on her children, for they be the children of adulteries, or of idolatries;)

for the mother of them did fornication, she is shamed that conceived them, for she said, I shall go after my lovers, that give [my] loaves to me, and my waters, and my wool, and my flax, and mine oil, and my drink. (for their mother did adultery, or idolatry, yea, she is shamed who conceived them, for she said, I shall go after my lovers, who give me my bread, and my water, and my wool, and my flax, and my oil, and my drink.)

For this thing, lo! I shall hedge thy way with thorns, and I shall hedge it (about) with a wall, and she shall not find her paths.

And she shall follow her lovers, and shall not (over)take them, and she shall seek them, and shall not find [them]; and she shall say, I shall go, and turn again to my former husband, for it was well to me then more than now. (And she shall follow after her lovers, but shall not overtake them, and she shall seek after them, but shall not find them; and then she shall say, I shall go, and return to my former husband, for it was better for me then, than it is now.)

And this Jerusalem knew not, that I gave to her wheat, wine, and oil; and I multiplied silver and gold to her, (of) which they made (offering) to Baal. (And this Jerusalem knew not, that it was I who gave her the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and I multiplied her silver and her gold, which they then offered to Baal.)

Therefore I shall turn (again), and take (back) my wheat in his time, and my wine in his time; and I shall deliver my wool, and my flax, by which they covered the shame thereof. (And so I shall return, and take back my corn in its time, and my wine in its time; and I shall take away my wool, and my flax, with which she covered her shame, or her nakedness.)

10 And now I shall show the folly of her before the eyes of her lovers, and a man shall not deliver her from mine hand; (And now I shall show her folly to her lovers, and no one shall be able to rescue her out of my hands;)

11 and I shall make to cease all the joy thereof, the solemnity thereof, the new moon thereof, that is, the feast of the new moon, the sabbath thereof, and all the feast times thereof. (and I shall make to cease all her joy, and all her solemn feasts, yea, her new moons, that is, the feast of the new moon, and her sabbaths, and her other feasts.)

12 And I shall destroy the vinery thereof, [and her fig tree,] of which she said, These be mine hires which my lovers gave to me; and I shall set it into a forest, and a beast of the field shall eat it. (And I shall destroy her vines, and her fig trees, of which she said, These be my wages which my lovers gave me; and I shall turn them into a forest, and the wild beasts shall eat them, or shall destroy them/and the beasts of the fields shall eat there.)

13 And I shall visit on it[a] (for) the days of (the) Baalim, in which it burnt incense, and was adorned with her earring(s), and her brooch, and went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord. (And I shall punish her for the days in which she burned incense to the Baalim, and was adorned with her earrings, and her brooches, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord.)

14 For this thing lo! I shall give milk to it, and I shall bring it into wilderness, and I shall speak to the heart thereof. (And then lo! I shall give her milk, and I shall bring her into the wilderness again, and I shall speak to her heart/and I shall speak words of love to her.)

15 And I shall give to it vine-tillers thereof of the same place, and the valley of Achor, that is, of troubling, for to open hope. And it shall sing there by the days of her youth, and by the days of her going up from the land of Egypt. (And I shall give her back her vineyards from the same place, and turn the Valley of Achor, that is, the Valley of Trouble, into a door of hope. And she shall sing there like in the days of her youth, and like in the days of her going out of the land of Egypt.)

16 And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord, she shall call me Mine husband, and she shall no more call me Baali; (And it shall be on that day, saith the Lord, that she shall call me Ishi, or My husband, and she shall no more call me Baali, or My Lord;)

17 and I shall take away the names of Baalim from her mouth, and she shall no more have mind of the name(s) of those. (and I shall take away the names of the Baalim from out of her mouth, and no more shall she remember their names.)

18 And I shall smite to them a bond of peace in that day, with the beast of the field, and with the bird of the air, and with the creeping beast of the earth. And I shall all-break bow, and sword, and battle from [the] earth; and I shall make them to sleep trustily. (And on that day, I shall strike a covenant for them with the wild beasts, and with the birds of the air, and with the creeping beasts of the earth. And I shall altogether break the bow, and the sword, and the battle from off the earth, and then they all shall be able to sleep with trust, or in peace.)

19 And I shall spouse thee to me [into] without end; and I shall spouse thee to me in rightfulness, and in doom, and in mercy, and in merciful doings. (And I shall betroth thee to me forever; and I shall betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in judgement, and in love, and in giving mercy.)

20 And I shall spouse thee to me in faith; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. (And I shall betroth thee to me in faith; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.)

21 And it shall be, in that day I shall hear, saith the Lord, and I shall hear (the) heavens, and those shall hear the earth; (And it shall be, on that day, that I shall give an answer, saith the Lord, and I shall answer with the heavens, and they shall answer with the earth;)

22 and the earth shall hear (the) wheat, and wine, and oil, and these shall hear Jezreel. (and the earth shall answer with the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and all of them shall answer with Jezreel, that is, with Israel.)

23 And I shall sow it to me into a land, and I shall have mercy on it that was without mercy. And I shall say to that, that is not my people, Thou art my people, and it shall say, Thou art my God. (And I shall sow Israel in the land for me, and I shall show love to Loruhamah, and I shall say to Loammi, Thou art my people, and they shall say to me/and he shall say to me, Thou art my God.)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:13 In Chapters 2 and 3 of Hosea, where the “Later Version” uses “it” and “thereof”, the “Early Version” and other translations use “she” and “her”.