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Restoring the Covenant Promises

“Yet the number of Bnei-Yisrael will be like the sand of the sea,
    which cannot be measured or counted.[a]
Instead of ‘You are not My people’ being said to them,
they will be called ‘Children of the living God.’
Then the descendants of Judah and descendants of Israel will be gathered together.
They will appoint themselves one head
    And they will go up from the land.
For the day of Jezreel will be great.
Say you to your brothers, ‘Ammi’[b]
and to your sisters, ‘Ruhamah’[c].
Contend with your mother, contend!
For she is not My wife nor I her husband.
Let her put away her fornications from her face
and her adulteries from between her breasts.
Or else I will strip her naked
and expose her as on the day she was born.
Then I will make her like a wilderness.
Yes, I will make her like desert land,
and I will let her die of thirst.
I will have no compassion for her children,
for they are children of prostitution.
For their mother has practiced prostitution.
She who conceived them has been shameful.
For she said, ‘Let me go after my lovers,
    who are giving me my bread and my water,
    my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
Therefore see, I will hedge her in with thorns,
and I will build a wall around her
so she cannot find her paths.
Then she will chase after her lovers,
but she will not overtake them.
She will seek them, but not find.
Then she will say:
‘Let me go and return to my first husband,
for was it better for me then, than now.’
10 But she did not realize that I Myself
gave her the grain, the wine and the fresh oil.
I lavished on her silver, also gold—
    which they made into Baal.
11 Therefore I will return
    and take back My grain in its season,
and My new wine at its appointed time,
and I will snatch away My wool and My linen
    for covering her nakedness.
12 So now I will uncover her lewdness
    to the eyes of her lovers,
and no one will rescue her from My hand.
13 I will also put an end to all her rejoicing—
    her feasts, her New Moon,
    her Shabbat, and all her moadim.
14 I will also devastate her vines and her fig trees,
of which she said: ‘These are my payment
    that my lovers have given to me.’
But I will turn them into a thicket
and beasts of the field will devour them.
15 Then I will punish her for the days of the Baalim[d]
to whom she would burn incense—
adorning herself with her rings and jewelry,
going after her lovers—
    but Me she forgot.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.

Compassion and Covenant Love

16 “So then, I Myself will entice her,
I will bring her into the wilderness
    and speak to her heart.
17 I will give her back her vineyards from there
and make the valley of Achor a door of hope.
She will respond there—
    as in the days of her youth,
    as in the day she came up out of the land of Egypt.
18 In that day—it is a declaration of Adonai
you will proclaim, ‘My husband,’
and never again call Me, ‘My Baal.’
19 Then I will remove the names of the Baalim out of her mouth,
no longer to be mentioned by their name.
20 In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, the flying creatures in the sky,
    and the creeping things on the ground.
I will break into pieces the bow and sword
    and warfare from the land,
and I will cause them to lie down securely.
21 Then I will betroth you to Me forever—
yes, I will betroth you to Me with righteousness,
    justice, covenant loyalty and compassion.
22 I will betroth you to Me with faithfulness,
and you will know Adonai.
23 So it will be in that day, I will respond
—it is a declaration of Adonai
I will respond to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth,
24 and the earth will respond
        with grain, new wine, and fresh oil—
and they will respond with ‘Jezreel!’[e]
25 I will sow her in the land for Myself.
I will have compassion on Lo-ruhamah.
I will say to Lo-ammi, ‘You are My people!’[f]
and they will say, ‘My God!’”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:1 cf. Rom. 9:26.
  2. Hosea 2:3 Meaning, My people.
  3. Hosea 2:3 Meaning, Shown compassion.
  4. Hosea 2:15 Heb. gods.
  5. Hosea 2:24 Meaning, God sows.
  6. Hosea 2:25 cf. Rom. 9:25; 1 Pet. 2:10.

[a]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’(A)

Israel Punished and Restored

“Rebuke your mother,(B) rebuke her,
    for she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous(C) look from her face
    and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
Otherwise I will strip(D) her naked
    and make her as bare as on the day she was born;(E)
I will make her like a desert,(F)
    turn her into a parched land,
    and slay her with thirst.
I will not show my love to her children,(G)
    because they are the children of adultery.(H)
Their mother has been unfaithful
    and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(I)
    who give me my food and my water,
    my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(J)
Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
    I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.(K)
She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
    she will look for them but not find them.(L)
Then she will say,
    ‘I will go back to my husband(M) as at first,(N)
    for then I was better off(O) than now.’
She has not acknowledged(P) that I was the one
    who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,(Q)
who lavished on her the silver and gold(R)
    which they used for Baal.(S)

“Therefore I will take away my grain(T) when it ripens,
    and my new wine(U) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
    intended to cover her naked body.
10 So now I will expose(V) her lewdness
    before the eyes of her lovers;(W)
    no one will take her out of my hands.(X)
11 I will stop(Y) all her celebrations:(Z)
    her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
    her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.(AA)
12 I will ruin her vines(AB) and her fig trees,(AC)
    which she said were her pay from her lovers;(AD)
I will make them a thicket,(AE)
    and wild animals will devour them.(AF)
13 I will punish her for the days
    she burned incense(AG) to the Baals;(AH)
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,(AI)
    and went after her lovers,(AJ)
    but me she forgot,(AK)
declares the Lord.(AL)

14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
    I will lead her into the wilderness(AM)
    and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
    and will make the Valley of Achor[b](AN) a door of hope.
There she will respond[c](AO) as in the days of her youth,(AP)
    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(AQ)

16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;(AR)
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.[d]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(AS)
    no longer will their names be invoked.(AT)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
    with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
    and the creatures that move along the ground.(AU)
Bow and sword and battle
    I will abolish(AV) from the land,
    so that all may lie down in safety.(AW)
19 I will betroth(AX) you to me forever;
    I will betroth you in[e] righteousness and justice,(AY)
    in[f] love and compassion.(AZ)
20 I will betroth you in[g] faithfulness,
    and you will acknowledge(BA) the Lord.(BB)

21 “In that day I will respond,”
    declares the Lord
“I will respond(BC) to the skies,
    and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
    the new wine and the olive oil,(BD)
    and they will respond to Jezreel.[h](BE)
23 I will plant(BF) her for myself in the land;
    I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[i](BG)
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[j]’ ‘You are my people’;(BH)
    and they will say, ‘You are my God.(BI)’”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.
  2. Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
  3. Hosea 2:15 Or sing
  4. Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
  5. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  6. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  7. Hosea 2:20 Or with
  8. Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
  9. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
  10. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)