Hosea 2

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

11Say to your brothers, “2Ammi,” and to your sisters, “3Ruhamah.”2“Dispute with your mother, 4dispute, Because she is 5not my wife, and I am not her husband; But she must remove her 6infidelity from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,3Otherwise, I will strip her 7naked And expose her as on the 8day she was born. I will also 9make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land, And put her to death with 10thirst.4Also, I will take no pity on her children, Because they are 11children of infidelity.5For their mother has 12committed prostitution; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘13I will go after my lovers, Who 14give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my 15oil and my drink.’6Therefore, behold, I will 16obstruct 17her way with 18thorns, And I will build 19a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her 20paths.7And she will 21pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘22I will go back to my 23first husband, Because it was 24better for me then than now!’

8“Yet she does 25not know that it was 26I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they 27used for Baal.9Therefore, I will 2829take back My grain at 30harvest 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.10So now I will 31uncover her 32lewdness Before the eyes of her lovers, And no one will rescue her from My hand.11I will also 33put an end to all her joy, Her 34feasts, her 35new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festivals.12And I will 36destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will 37turn them into a forest, And the 38animals of the field will devour them.13I will punish her for the 39days of the Baals When she used to 4041offer sacrifices to them And 42adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she 43forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

14“Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her, 44Bring her into the wilderness, And speak 45kindly to her.15Then I will give her her 46vineyards from there, And 47the 48Valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will 4950respond there as in the days of her youth, As in the 51day when she went up from the land of Egypt.16And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord, “That you will call Me 5253my husband And no longer call Me my 54Baal.17For 55I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will no longer be 56mentioned by their names.18On that day I will also make a covenant for them With the 57animals of the field, The birds of the sky, And the crawling things of the ground. And I will 5859eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And will let them 60lie down in safety.19I will 61betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in 62righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion,20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will 63know the Lord.

21“And it will come about on that day that 64I will respond,” declares the Lord. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,22And the 65earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, And they will respond to 66Jezreel.23I will 67sow her for Myself in the land. 68I will also have compassion on 69her who had not obtained compassion, And 70I will say to 71those who were 72not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And 73they will say, ‘You are my God!’”