Hosea, 2

1. But the Israelites will become as numerous as the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. In the very place where they were told, 'You are not my people,' they will be told they are 'Children of the living God'.

1. Say to your brother, "My people," and to your sister, "She has obtained pity."

2. The Judaeans and Israelites will be reunited and will choose themselves a single head, and will spread far beyond their country, for great will be the Day of Jezreel!

2. "Plead with your mother, plead -- for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband -- that she put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts;

3. Then call your brothers, 'My people', and your sisters, 'You have been pitied'.

3. lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a parched land, and slay her with thirst.

4. To court, take your mother to court! For she is no longer my wife nor am I her husband. She must either remove her whoring ways from her face and her adulteries from between her breasts,

4. Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of harlotry.

5. or I shall strip her and expose her naked as the day she was born; I shall make her as bare as the desert, I shall make her as dry as arid country, and let her die of thirst.

5. For their mother has played the harlot; she that conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, `I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'

6. And I shall feel no pity for her children since they are the children of her whorings.

6. Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns; and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths.

7. Yes, their mother has played the whore, she who conceived them has disgraced herself by saying, 'I shall chase after my lovers; they will assure me my keep, my wool, my flax, my oil and my drinks.'

7. She shall pursue her lovers, but not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then she shall say, `I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now.'

8. This is why I shall block her way with thorns, and wall her in to stop her in her tracks;

8. And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold which they used for Ba'al.

9. then if she chases her lovers she will not catch them, if she looks for them she will not find them, and then she will say, 'I shall go back to my first husband, I was better off then than I am now;'

9. Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness.

10. she had never realised before that I was the one who was giving her the grain, new wine and oil, giving her more and more silver and gold which they have spent on Baal!

10. Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.

11. This is why I shall take back my grain when it is due and my new wine, when the season for it comes. I shall withdraw my wool and my flax which were to cover her naked body,

11. And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts.

12. and then display her infamy before her lovers' eyes- no one will take her from me then!

12. And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, `These are my hire, which my lovers have given me.' I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them.

13. I shall put an end to all her merrymaking, her festivals, her New Moons and her Sabbaths and all her solemn feasts.

13. And I will punish her for the feast days of the Ba'als when she burned incense to them and decked herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the LORD.

14. I shall make her vines and fig trees derelict of which she used to say, 'These are the pay my lovers gave me.' I shall turn them into a jungle: wild animals will feed on them.

14. "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

15. I mean to make her pay for the feast-days on which she burnt incense to the Baals, when she tricked herself out in her earrings and necklaces to chase after her lovers, and forget me! -declares Yahweh.

15. And there I will give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

16. But look, I am going to seduce her and lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.

16. "And in that day, says the LORD, you will call me, `My husband,' and no longer will you call me, `My Ba'al.'

17. There I shall give her back her vineyards, and make the Vale of Achor a gateway of hope. There she will respond as when she was young, as on the day when she came up from Egypt.

17. For I will remove the names of the Ba'als from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more.

18. When that day comes- declares Yahweh- you will call me, 'My husband', no more will you call me, 'My Baal'.

18. And I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety.

19. I shall banish the names of the Baals from her lips and their name will be mentioned no more.

19. And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.

20. When that day comes I shall make a treaty for them with the wild animals, with the birds of heaven and the creeping things of the earth; I shall break the bow and the sword and warfare, and banish them from the country, and I will let them sleep secure.

20. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.

21. I shall betroth you to myself for ever, I shall betroth you in uprightness and justice, and faithful love and tenderness.

21. "And in that day, says the LORD, I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth;

22. Yes, I shall betroth you to myself in loyalty and in the knowledge of Yahweh.

22. and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel;

23. When that day comes, I shall respond -declares Yahweh- I shall respond to the heavens and they will respond to the earth

23. and I will sow him for myself in the land. And I will have pity on Not pitied, and I will say to Not my people, `You are my people'; and he shall say `Thou art my God.'"

24. and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

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25. I shall sow her in the country to be mine, I shall take pity on Lo-Ruhamah, I shall tell Lo-Ammi, 'You are my people,' and he will say, 'You are my God.'

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