Hosea 2:2-23

2“Contend with your mother, 1contend, For she is 2not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her 3harlotry from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,3Or I will strip her 4naked And expose her as on the 5day when she was born. I will also 6make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land And slay her with 7thirst.4Also, I will have no compassion on her children, Because they are 8children of harlotry.5For their mother has 9played the harlot; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘10I will go after my lovers, Who 11give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my 12oil and my drink.’6Therefore, behold, I will 13hedge up 14her way with 15thorns, And I will build 16a wall against her so that she cannot find her 17paths.7She will 18pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘19I will go back to my 20first husband, For it was 21better for me then than now!’

8“For she does 22not know that it was 23I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they 24used for Baal.9Therefore, I will 25take back My grain at 26harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax Given to cover her nakedness.10And then I will 27uncover her lewdness In the sight of her lovers, And no one will rescue her out of My hand.11I will also 28put an end to all her gaiety, Her 29feasts, her 30new moons, her sabbaths And all her festal assemblies.12I will 31destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘These are my wages Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will 32make them a forest, And the 33beasts of the field will devour them.13I will punish her for the 34days of the Baals When she used to 3536offer sacrifices to them And 37adorn herself with her 38earrings and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she 39forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, 40Bring her into the wilderness And speak 41kindly to her.15Then I will give her her 42vineyards from there, And 43the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will 4445sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the 46day when she came up from the land of Egypt.16It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord, “That you will call Me 4748Ishi And will no longer call Me 49Baali.17For 50I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will be 51mentioned by their names no more.18In that day I will also make a covenant for them With the 52beasts of the field, The birds of the sky And the creeping things of the ground. And I will 5354abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, And will make them 55lie down in safety.19I will 56betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in 57righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion,20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will 58know the Lord.

21“It will come about in that day that 59I will respond,” declares the Lord. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,22And the 60earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil, And they will respond to 61Jezreel.23I will 62sow her for Myself in the land. 63I will also have compassion on 64her who had not obtained compassion, And 65I will say to 66those who were 67not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And 68they will say, ‘You are my God!’”