Hosea 2

2:1 Then you will call1 your2 brother, “My People” (Ammi)! You will call your sister, “Pity” (Ruhamah)!

Idolatrous Israel Will Be Punished Like a Prostitute

2:2 Plead earnestly3 with your4 mother

(for5 she is not my wife, and I am not her husband),

so that6 she might put an end to her adulterous lifestyle,7

and turn away from her sexually immoral behavior.8

2:3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked,

and expose her like she was when she was born.

I will turn her land into a wilderness

and make her country a parched land,

so that I might kill9 her with thirst.

2:4 I will have no pity on her children,10

because they are children conceived in adultery.11

2:5 For their mother has committed adultery;

she who conceived them has acted shamefully.

For she said, “I will seek out12 my lovers;13

they are the ones who give me my bread and my water,

my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine.14

The Lords Discipline Will Bring Israel Back

2:6 Therefore, I will soon15 fence her in16 with thorns;

I will wall her in17 so that18 she cannot find her way.19

2:7 Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch20 them;

she will seek them, but she will not find them.21

Then she will say,

“I will go back22 to my husband,23

because I was better off then than I am now.”24

Agricultural Fertility Withdrawn from Israel

2:8 Yet25 until now26 she has refused to acknowledge27 that I28 was the one

who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;

and that it was I who29 lavished on her the silver and gold—

which they30 used in worshiping Baal!31

2:9 Therefore, I will take back32 my grain during the harvest time33

and my new wine when it ripens;34

I will take away my wool and my flax

which I had provided35 in order to clothe her.36

2:10 Soon37 I will expose her lewd nakedness38 in front of her lovers,

and no one will be able to rescue her from me!39

2:11 I will put an end to all her celebration:

her annual religious festivals,

monthly new moon celebrations,

and weekly Sabbath festivities—

all her appointed festivals.

2:12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees,

of which she said, “These are my wages for prostitution40

that my lovers gave to me!”

I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees41 into an uncultivated thicket,

so that wild animals42 will devour them.

2:13 “I will punish her for the festival days

when she burned incense to the Baal idols;43

she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry,

and went after her lovers,

but44 she forgot me!”45 says the Lord.

Future Repentance and Restoration of Israel

2:14 However, in the future I will allure her;46

I will lead47 her back into the wilderness,

and speak tenderly to her.

2:15 From there I will give back her vineyards to her,

and turn the “Valley of Trouble”48 into an “Opportunity49 for Hope.”

There she will sing as she did when she was young,50

when51 she came up from the land of Egypt.

2:16 “At that time,”52 declares the Lord,

“you will call,53 ‘My husband’;54

you will never again call me,55 ‘My master.’56

2:17 For57 I will remove the names of the Baal idols58 from your lips,59

so that you will never again utter their names!”60

New Covenant Relationship with Repentant Israel

2:18 “At that time61 I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals,

the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground.

I will abolish62 the warrior’s bow and sword

—that is, every weapon of warfare63—from the land,

and I will allow them to live securely.”64

2:19 I will commit myself to you65 forever;

I will commit myself to you in66 righteousness and justice,

in steadfast love and tender compassion.

2:20 I will commit myself to you in faithfulness,

then67 you will acknowledge68 the Lord.”69

Agricultural Fertility Restored to the Repentant Nation

2:21 “At that time,70 I will willingly respond,”71 declares the Lord.

“I will respond to the sky,

and the sky72 will respond to the ground;

2:22 then the ground will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;

and they will respond to ‘God Plants’ (Jezreel)!73

2:23 Then I will plant her as my own74 in the land.

I will have pity on ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah).

I will say to ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), ‘You are my people!’

And he75 will say, ‘You are76 my God!’”

An Illustration of God’s Love for Idolatrous Israel

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