Hosea 2:7-9

New Catholic Bible

⁷ Yes, their mother has been a whore;
    she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will go after my lovers;
    they will supply me with my bread and my water,
    my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.”
⁸ That is why I will block her path with thornbushes
    and erect a wall to hinder her,
    so that she cannot proceed on her journey.
⁹ Although she pursues her lovers,^[a]
    she will not be able to overtake them.
If she looks for them,
    she will not find them.
Finally she will say,
    “I will return to my first husband,
    since I was far better off then than I am now.”