1“People of Israel, call your brothers ‘My people.’ And call your sisters ‘My loved ones.’
Israel Is Punished and Brought Back to the Lord
2“Tell your mother she is wrong.
Tell her she is wrong.
She isn’t acting like a wife to me anymore.
She no longer treats me as her husband.
Tell her to stop looking and acting like a prostitute.
Tell her not to let her lovers
lie on her breasts anymore.
3If she doesn’t stop it, I will strip her naked.
I’ll make her as bare as she was on the day she was born.
I’ll make her like a desert.
She will become like dry land.
And I’ll let her die of thirst.
4“I won’t show my love to her children.
They are the children of other men.
5Their mother hasn’t been faithful to me.
She who became pregnant with them
has brought shame on herself.
She said, ‘I will chase after my lovers.
They give me my food and water.
They provide me with wool and linen.
They give me olive oil and wine.’
6So I will block her path with bushes that have thorns.
I’ll build a wall around her.
Then she can’t go to her lovers.
7She will still chase after her lovers.
But she won’t catch them.
She’ll look for them.
But she won’t find them.
Then she’ll say,
‘I’ll go back to my husband.
That’s where I was at first.
I was better off then than I am now.’
8She wouldn’t admit that I was the one
who gave her everything she had.
I provided her with grain, olive oil and fresh wine.
I gave her plenty of silver and gold.
But she used it to make statues of Baal.
9“So I will take away my grain when it gets ripe.
I’ll take my fresh wine when it’s ready.
I’ll take back my wool and my linen.
I gave them to her to cover her naked body.
10So now I’ll uncover her body.
All her lovers will see it.
No one can stop me from punishing her.
11I will put a stop to the special times she celebrates.
I’ll bring an end to the feasts she celebrates each year.
I’ll stop her New Moon feasts and her Sabbath days.
I’ll bring all her appointed feasts to an end.
12I will destroy her vines and her fig trees.
She said they were her pay from her lovers.
I’ll make them like clumps of bushes and weeds.
Wild animals will eat them up.
13Israel burned incense to the gods
that were named Baal.
I will punish her
for all the times she did that.
She decorated herself with rings and jewelry.
Then she went after her lovers.
But she forgot all about me,”
declares the Lord.
14“So now I am going to draw her back to me.
I will lead her into the desert.
There I will speak tenderly to her.
15I will give her back her vineyards.
I will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope for her.
Then she will love me, as she did when she was young.
She will love me just as she did
when she came up out of Egypt.
16“A new day is coming,” announces the Lord.
“Israel will call me ‘my husband.’
She will no longer call me ‘my master.’
17She will no longer speak about the gods
that are named Baal.
She will not pray to them for help anymore.
18At that time I will make a covenant
for the good of my people.
I will make it with the wild animals
and the birds in the sky.
It will also be made with the creatures
that move along the ground.
I will remove bows and swords
and other weapons of war from the land.
Then my people can lie down in safety.
19I will make Israel my own.
She will belong to me forever.
I will do to her what is right and fair.
I will love her tenderly.
20I will be faithful to her.
And she will recognize me as the Lord.
21“So at that time I will answer her,”
announces the Lord.
“I will command the skies
to send rain on the earth.
22Then the earth will produce grain, olive oil and fresh wine.
And Israel will be called Jezreel.
That’s because I will answer her prayers.
23I will plant her in the land for myself.
I will show my love to the one I called Not My Loved One.
I will say, ‘You are my people’
to those who were called Not My People.
And they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”
1»Llamad a vuestros hermanos: “Pueblo mío”,2:1 Pueblo mío. Lit. Amí. y a vuestras hermanas: “Compadecidas”.2:1 Compadecidas. Lit. Rujama.
Castigo y restauración de Israel
2»¡Echadle en cara a vuestra madre
que ni ella es mi esposa ni yo su esposo!
¡Que se quite del rostro el maquillaje de prostituta,
y de entre los pechos los adornos de ramera!
3De lo contrario, la desnudaré por completo;
la dejaré como el día en que nació.
La pondré como un desierto:
¡la convertiré en tierra seca y la mataré de sed!
4No tendré compasión de sus hijos,
porque son hijos de prostitución.
5Su madre es una prostituta;
¡la que los concibió es una sinvergüenza!
Pues dijo: “Quiero ir tras mis amantes,
que me dan mi pan y mi agua,
mi lana y mi lino, mi aceite y mis bebidas”.
6Por eso le cerraré el paso con espinos;
la encerraré para que no encuentre el camino.
7Con ardor perseguirá a sus amantes,
y al no encontrarlos dirá:
“Prefiero volver con mi primer esposo,
porque antes me iba mejor que ahora”.
8Ella no ha querido reconocer que soy yo
quien le da el grano, el vino nuevo y el aceite.
Yo le he multiplicado la plata y el oro,
¿y qué hizo con ellos? ¡Falsos dioses!2:8 Falsos dioses. Lit. Baales; también en vv. 13 y 17.
9»Por eso, llegado el momento
le quitaré mi trigo y mi vino nuevo.
La dejaré sin la lana y el lino
que le di para cubrir su desnudez.
10Voy a exhibir su vergüenza
a la vista de sus amantes,
y nadie la librará de mi mano.
11Pondré fin a todo su jolgorio:
sus peregrinaciones, sus lunas nuevas,
sus días de reposo, y sus fiestas solemnes.
12Devastaré sus vides y sus higueras,
que consideraba la paga de sus amantes.
Las convertiré en maleza,
y los animales del campo acabarán con ellas.
13La llamaré a cuentas por los días
en que quemaba ofrendas a sus falsos dioses,
cuando se adornaba con zarcillos y joyas,
y, olvidándose de mí, se iba tras sus amantes
—afirma el Señor—.
14»Por eso, ahora voy a seducirla:
me la llevaré al desierto
y le hablaré con ternura.
15Allí le devolveré sus viñedos,
y convertiré el valle de la Desgracia2:15 la Desgracia. Lit. Acor; véase Jos 7:24-26.
en el paso de la Esperanza.
Allí me corresponderá, como en los días de su juventud,
como en el día en que salió de Egipto.
16»En aquel día —afirma el Señor—,
ya no me llamarás: “mi señor”,2:16 señor. Lit. baal.
sino que me dirás: “esposo mío”.
17Te quitaré de los labios el nombre de tus falsos dioses,
y nunca más volverás a invocarlos.
18Aquel día haré en tu favor un pacto
con los animales del campo,
con las aves de los cielos
y con los reptiles de la tierra.
Eliminaré del país arcos, espadas y guerra,
para que todos duerman seguros.
19Yo te haré mi esposa para siempre,
y te daré como dote el derecho y la justicia,
el amor y la compasión.
20Te daré como dote mi fidelidad,
y entonces conocerás al Señor.
21»En aquel día yo responderé
—afirma el Señor—;
yo le responderé al cielo,
y el cielo le responderá a la tierra;
22la tierra les responderá al cereal,
al vino nuevo y al aceite,
y estos le responderán a Jezrel.2:22 En hebreo, Jezrel significa Dios siembra.
23Yo la sembraré para mí en la tierra;
me compadeceré de la “Indigna de compasión”,
a “Pueblo ajeno” lo llamaré: “Pueblo mío”;2:23 Indigna de compasión … Pueblo ajeno … Pueblo mío. Véanse 1:6,8; 2:1 y notas.
y él me dirá: “Mi Dios”».
