New Living Translation

English Standard Version

Charges against an Unfaithful Wife

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

1

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished

a Say to your brothers, “You are my people,”b and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”c

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.

2

“Plead with your mother, plead —
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband —
that she put away her whoring from her face,
and her adultery from between her breasts;

3

Otherwise, 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.

3

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

4

And I will not love her children,
for they were conceived in prostitution.

4

Upon her children also I will have no mercy,
because they are children of whoredom.

5

Their 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.’

5

For their mother has played the whore;
she who 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

“For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes.
I will block her path with a wall
to make her lose her way.

6

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

7

When 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.’

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 for me then than now.’

8

She 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.

8

And she did not know
that it was I who gave her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on her silver and gold,
which they used for Baal.

9

“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.

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

I will strip her naked in public,
while all her lovers look on.
No one will be able
to rescue her from my hands.

10

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

11

I will put an end to her annual festivals,
her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days —
all her appointed festivals.

11

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

12

I 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.

12

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

13

I 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.
The LORD’s Love for Unfaithful Israel

13

And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals
when she burned offerings to them
and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,
and went after her lovers
and forgot me, declares the Lord.

14

“But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there.

14

The Lord’s Mercy on Israel

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

15

I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Troubleb 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.

15

And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achore 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

When that day comes,” says the LORD,
“you will call me ‘my husband’
instead of ‘my master.’c

16

“And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’

17

O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips,
and you will never mention them again.

17

For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.

18

On 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.

18

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

19

I will make you my wife forever,
showing you righteousness and justice,
unfailing love and compassion.

19

And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.

20

I will be faithful to you and make you mine,
and you will finally know me as the LORD.

20

I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.

21

“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.

21

“And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,

22

Then 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!’

22

and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel,g

23

At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites
and raise them for myself.
I will show love
to those I called ‘Not loved.’d
And to those I called ‘Not my people,’e
I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’
And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”

23

and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy,h
and I will say to Not My People,i ‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

Parallel

New Living Translation

English Standard Version

Hosea 2

Hosea 2