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        and she will wander after her lovers like a dumb sheep.
    She’ll chase after them, but she won’t catch them.
        She’ll look for them, but she won’t find them.
    Then she’ll say, “I’m going to go back to my original husband
        because I was better off then than I am now!”

    She didn’t know I was the One who gave her the grain and wine and oil—
        not those fertility gods she was worshiping.
    I made her rich with silver and gold,
        but she devoted it to another divine master![a]

    So when harvest time comes, I’ll take back My grain,
        and when the grapes ripen, I’ll take back My wine.
    I’ll take away the wool and flax I gave her to make clothes
        so she wouldn’t be naked.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:8 Hebrew, Baal

She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
    she will look for them but not find them.(A)
Then she will say,
    ‘I will go back to my husband(B) as at first,(C)
    for then I was better off(D) than now.’
She has not acknowledged(E) that I was the one
    who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,(F)
who lavished on her the silver and gold(G)
    which they used for Baal.(H)

“Therefore I will take away my grain(I) when it ripens,
    and my new wine(J) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
    intended to cover her naked body.

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