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Charges against an Unfaithful Wife

“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother—
    for she is no longer my wife,
    and I am no longer her husband.
Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face
    and the clothing that exposes her breasts.
Otherwise, I will strip her as naked
    as she was on the day she was born.
I will leave her to die of thirst,
    as in a dry and barren wilderness.
And I will not love her children,
    for they were conceived in prostitution.
Their mother is a shameless prostitute
    and became pregnant in a shameful way.
She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers
    and sell myself to them for food and water,
for clothing of wool and linen,
    and for olive oil and drinks.’

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Plead with your mother, plead—
    because she is not my wife,
        and I am not her husband.
Let her put away her whoring from before her,[a]
    and her adultery from between her breasts.
Lest I strip her naked
    and expose her like the day when she was born;
I will make her like the desert
    and turn her into parched land;
        I will kill her with thirst.
And I will not have pity on her children,
    because they are children of whoredom.
        Because their mother was unfaithful;[b]
she who conceived them has acted shamefully,
    for she said:
        “I will go after my lovers,
the ones who give me my bread, my water,
    my wool, and my flax,
        my oil, and my drink.”

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:2 Literally “from her face”
  2. Hosea 2:5 Or “their mother played the whore”