Hos 2 | NASB1995 | STEP | Say to your brothers , “ Ammi ,” and to your sisters , “ Ruhamah .”

‏ Hosea 2

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

1 ^{▼▼ Ch 2:3 in Heb}Say to your brothers, ^{▼▼ I.e. my people}“Ammi,” and to your sisters, ^{▼▼ I.e. she has obtained compassion}“Ruhamah.” 2 “Contend with your mother, ^dcontend,
For she is ^enot my wife, and I am not her husband;
And let her put away her ^fharlotry from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
3 Or I will strip her ^gnaked
And expose her as on the ^hday when she was born.
I will also ⁱmake her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land
And slay her with ^jthirst.
4 “Also, I will have no compassion on her children,
Because they are ^kchildren of harlotry.
5 “For their mother has ^lplayed the harlot;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘ ^mI will go after my lovers,
Who ⁿgive me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my ^ooil and my drink.’
6 “Therefore, behold, I will ^phedge up ^{▼▼ So with some ancient versions; Heb your}her way with ^rthorns,
And I will build ^{▼▼ Lit her wall so that}a wall against her so that she cannot find her ^tpaths.
7 “She will ^upursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘ ^vI will go back to my ^wfirst husband,
For it was ^xbetter for me then than now!’

8 “For she does ^ynot know that it was ^zI who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they ^{▼▼ Or made into the}used for Baal.
9 “Therefore, I will ^abtake back My grain at ^{▼▼ Lit its time}harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
Given to cover her nakedness.
10 “And then I will ^aduncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her out of My hand.
11 “I will also ^aeput an end to all her gaiety,
Her ^affeasts, her ^agnew moons, her sabbaths
And all her festal assemblies.
12 “I will ^ahdestroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘These are my wages
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will ^aimake them a forest,
And the ^ajbeasts of the field will devour them.
13 “I will punish her for the ^akdays of the Baals
When she used to ^{▼▼ Or burn incense
,} ^amoffer sacrifices to them
And ^anadorn herself with her ^{▼▼ Or nose rings}earrings and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she ^apforgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
^aqBring her into the wilderness
And speak ^{▼▼ Lit upon her heart}kindly to her.
15 “Then I will give her her ^asvineyards from there,
And ^atthe valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will ^{▼▼ Or give answer
,} ^avsing there as in the days of her youth,
As in the ^awday when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me ^{▼▼ I.e. my husband
,} ^ayIshi
And will no longer call Me ^{▼▼ I.e. my master, or my Baal}Baali.
17 “For ^baI will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will be ^{▼▼ Or remembered}mentioned by their names no more.
18 “In that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the ^bcbeasts of the field,
The birds of the sky
And the creeping things of the ground.
And I will ^{▼▼ Lit break
,} ^beabolish the bow, the sword and war from the land,
And will make them ^bflie down in safety.
19 “I will ^bgbetroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in ^bhrighteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will ^biknow the Lord.

21 “It will come about in that day that ^bjI will respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22 And the ^bkearth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil,
And they will respond to ^{▼▼ I.e. God sows}Jezreel.
23 “I will ^bmsow her for Myself in the land.
^bnI will also have compassion on ^{▼▼ Heb Lo-ruhamah}her who had not obtained compassion,
And ^bpI will say to ^{▼▼ Heb Lo-ammi}those who were ^brnot My people,
‘You are My people!’
And ^{▼▼ Lit he}they will say, ‘You are my God!’”