Hosea 2

“In that day you will call your brothers Ammi—‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah—‘The ones I love.’H559H251H5971H269H7355

Charges against an Unfaithful Wife

2“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother—for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts.H7378H517H7378H802H376H5493H2183H6440H5005H76993Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness.H6584H6174H3322H3117H3205H7760H4057H7896H6723H776H4191H67724And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.H7355H1121H1121H21835Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’H517H2181H2029H3001H559H3212H310H157H5414H3899H4325H6785H6593H8081H82506“For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way.H7753H1870H5518H1443H1447H4672H54107When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’H7291H157H5381H1245H4672H559H3212H7725H7223H376H2896H62588She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has—the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.H3045H5414H1715H8492H3323H7235H3701H2091H6213H11689“But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness.H7725H3947H1715H6256H8492H4150H5337H6785H6593H3680H617210I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands.H1540H5040H5869H157H376H5337H302711I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.H4885H7673H2282H2320H7676H415012I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees, things she claims her lovers gave her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit.H8074H1612H8384H559H866H157H5414H7760H3293H2416H7704H39813I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the Lord.H6485H3117H1168H6999H5710H5141H2484H3212H310H157H7911H5002H3068

The Lord’s Love for Unfaithful Israel

14“But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.H6601H3212H4057H1696H382015I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble

into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.H5414H3754H6010H5911H6607H8615H6030H3117H5271H3117H5927H776H471416When that day comes,” says the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’

H3117H5002H3068H7121H376H7121H118017O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again.H5493H8034H1168H6310H2142H803418On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety.H3117H3772H1285H2416H7704H5775H8064H7431H127H7665H7198H2719H4421H776H7901H98319I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.H781H5769H781H6664H4941H2617H735620I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.H781H530H3045H306821“In that day, I will answer,” says the Lord. “I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain.H3117H6030H5002H3068H6030H8064H6030H77622Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’H776H6030H1715H8492H3323H6030H315723At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’

And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”H2232H776H7355H7355H3818H559H5971H5971H559H430