Hosea 2:4-23

4Also, I will take no pity on her children, Because they are 1children of infidelity.5For their mother has 2committed prostitution; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘3I will go after my lovers, Who 4give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my 5oil and my drink.’6Therefore, behold, I will 6obstruct 7her way with 8thorns, And I will build 9a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her 10paths.7And she will 11pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘12I will go back to my 13first husband, Because it was 14better for me then than now!’

8“Yet she does 15not know that it was 16I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they 17used for Baal.9Therefore, I will 1819take back My grain at 20harvest 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 21uncover her 22lewdness Before the eyes of her lovers, And no one will rescue her from My hand.11I will also 23put an end to all her joy, Her 24feasts, her 25new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festivals.12And I will 26destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will 27turn them into a forest, And the 28animals of the field will devour them.13I will punish her for the 29days of the Baals When she used to 3031offer sacrifices to them And 32adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she 33forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

14“Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her, 34Bring her into the wilderness, And speak 35kindly to her.15Then I will give her her 36vineyards from there, And 37the 38Valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will 3940respond there as in the days of her youth, As in the 41day 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 4243my husband And no longer call Me my 44Baal.17For 45I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will no longer be 46mentioned by their names.18On that day I will also make a covenant for them With the 47animals of the field, The birds of the sky, And the crawling things of the ground. And I will 4849eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And will let them 50lie down in safety.19I will 51betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in 52righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion,20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will 53know the Lord.

21“And it will come about on that day that 54I will respond,” declares the Lord. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,22And the 55earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, And they will respond to 56Jezreel.23I will 57sow her for Myself in the land. 58I will also have compassion on 59her who had not obtained compassion, And 60I will say to 61those who were 62not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And 63they will say, ‘You are my God!’”