New Living Translation

King James Bible

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

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

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, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries 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 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.

4

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

4

And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.

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 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.

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, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not 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

And 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.

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

For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared 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 will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given 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

And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

11

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

11

I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn 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 destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat 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 visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith 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

God's Mercy to Israel

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto 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 I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up 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 it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

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 take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

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 in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

19

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

19

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

20

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

20

I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt 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 it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear 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 hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

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

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New Living Translation

King James Bible

Hosea 2

Hosea 2