Hosea 2:15-17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 I will punish her for the days of the Baals,[a]
for whom she burnt incense,
When she decked herself out with her rings and her jewelry,
and went after her lovers—
but me she forgot—oracle of the Lord.(A)
16 Therefore,[b] I will allure her now;
I will lead her into the wilderness(B)
and speak persuasively to her.
17 Then I will give her the vineyards she had,
and the valley of Achor[c] as a door of hope.(C)
There she will respond as in the days of her youth,
as on the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Footnotes
- 2:15 The days of the Baals: feast days of the Baal cult (v. 13), or the whole period of Israel’s apostasy.
- 2:16 Therefore: this word in Hebrew normally introduces an oracle of doom; here, surprisingly, it leads to hope. Allure: as though seducing a virgin (Ex 22:15–16). Ordinarily this word connotes deception (Jgs 14:15; 16:5; 1 Kgs 22:20–22).
- 2:17 Valley of Achor: lit., valley of trouble (Jos 7:26). Here this valley becomes a valley of hope, a new entry into the promised land.
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