Hosea 2

1Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

1Call your brothers 'My People' and your sisters 'Shown Mercy.'

2Contend with your mother, contend; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

2Bring a case against your mother—bring a case! For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Tell her to remove the look of a prostitute from her face and the evidence of adultery from between her breasts.

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

3If she doesn't, I will strip her naked and leave her as bare as the day she was born. I will turn her into a desert, make her like a parched land, and let her die of thirst.

4Yea, upon her children will I have no mercy; for they are children of whoredom;

4I will show no mercy to her children, because they are children born of unfaithfulness.

5for their mother hath played the harlot; she that conceived them hath done shamefully; for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

5Their mother has acted like a prostitute; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. She said, 'I will chase after my lovers, who give me my food and water, my wool and linen, my olive oil and drink.'

6Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she shall not find her paths.

6For this reason, I will block her path with thornbushes; I will build a wall across her way so she cannot find her path.

7And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

7She will chase her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, 'I will go back to my first husband, because I was much better off then than I am now.'

8For she did not know that I gave her the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied unto her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

8She did not realize that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil. I gave her plenty of silver and gold, but she used it to worship Baal.

9Therefore will I take back my grain in the time thereof, and my new wine in the season thereof, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

9Therefore, I will take back my grain when it is harvest time and my new wine when it is ready. I will take away my wool and my linen that were meant to cover her nakedness.

10And now will I uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

10Now I will expose her shame in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to rescue her from my power.

11I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

11I will put an end to all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moon ceremonies, her Sabbath days, and all her appointed meetings.

12And I will lay waste her vines and her fig-trees, whereof she hath said, These are my hire that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

12I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, which she claimed were her pay from her lovers. I will let them grow into a wild forest, and wild animals will eat their fruit.

13And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, unto which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith Jehovah.

13I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baal gods, when she put on her earrings and jewelry to go after her lovers, but forgot all about me, says the LORD.

14Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

14But look, I am going to win her back. I will lead her out into the desert and speak tenderly to her heart.

15And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall make answer there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

15I will give her back her vineyards and turn the Valley of Trouble into a door of hope. There she will respond to me as she did when she was young, like the day she came out of the land of Egypt.

16And it shall be at that day, saith Jehovah, that thou shalt call me Ishi, and shalt call me no more Baali.

16On that day, says the LORD, you will call me 'My Husband' and no longer call me 'My Master.'

17For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name.

17I will remove the names of the Baal gods from her lips, and their names will never be spoken again.

18And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely.

18At that time, I will make a treaty for them with the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will remove the bow, the sword, and war from the land, so that everyone can lie down in safety.

19And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

19I will make you my promised bride forever. I will be engaged to you in righteousness and justice, in constant love and mercy.

20I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know Jehovah.

20I will be faithful to you as my bride, and you will truly know the LORD.

21And it shall come to pass in that day, I will answer, saith Jehovah, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth;

21On that day I will respond, says the LORD. I will respond to the heavens, and the heavens will respond to the earth with rain.

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

22The earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil, and they will all respond to Jezreel.

23And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them that were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

23I will plant her for myself in the land. I will show mercy to the one I called 'No Mercy.' I will say to those called 'Not My People,' 'You are my people,' and they will say, 'You are my God.'