1Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ru-hamah. 2.1 Ammi: that is, My people2.1 Ru-hamah: that is, Having obtained mercy 2Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 3Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. 4And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms. 5For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.2.5 drink: Heb. drinks
6¶ Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.2.6 make…: Heb. wall a wall 7And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. 8For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.2.8 wine: Heb. new wine2.8 which…: or, wherewith they made Baal 9Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.2.9 recover: or, take away 10And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.2.10 lewdness: Heb. folly, or, villany 11I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. 12And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.2.12 destroy: Heb. make desolate 13And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
14¶ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.2.14 comfortably: or, friendly: Heb. to her heart 15And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. 16And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.2.16 Ishi: that is, My husband2.16 Baali: that is, My lord 17For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. 18And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. 19And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 20I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. 21And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; 22And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. 23And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25. 1“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’
Israel Punished and Restored
2“Rebuke your mother, rebuke her,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous look from her face
and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
3Otherwise I will strip her naked
and make her as bare as on the day she was born;
I will make her like a desert,
turn her into a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
4I will not show my love to her children,
because they are the children of adultery.
5Their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’
6Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
7She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.
Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husband as at first,
for then I was better off than now.’
8She has not acknowledged that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,
who lavished on her the silver and gold—
which they used for Baal.
9“Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens,
and my new wine when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
intended to cover her naked body.
10So now I will expose her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers;
no one will take her out of my hands.
11I will stop all her celebrations:
her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.
12I will ruin her vines and her fig trees,
which she said were her pay from her lovers;
I will make them a thicket,
and wild animals will devour them.
13I will punish her for the days
she burned incense to the Baals;
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but me she forgot,”
declares the Lord.
14“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
15There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor2:15 Achor means trouble. a door of hope.
There she will respond2:15 Or sing as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
16“In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;
you will no longer call me ‘my master.2:16 Hebrew baal’
17I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;
no longer will their names be invoked.
18In 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.
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolish from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.
19I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in2:19 Or with; also in verse 20 righteousness and justice,
in2:19 Or with love and compassion.
20I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the Lord.
21“In that day I will respond,”
declares the Lord—
“I will respond to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth;
22and the earth will respond to the grain,
the new wine and the olive oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
23I will plant her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)’ ‘You are my people’;
and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”
