Hosea 2:5-23
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 2
5For their mother has committed prostitution; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 6Therefore, behold, I will obstruct her way with thorns, And I will build a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her paths. 7And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband, Because it was better for me then than now!’ 8'Yet she does not know that it was I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they used for Baal. 9Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax That I gave to cover her nakedness. 10So now I will uncover her lewdness Before the eyes of her lovers, And no one will rescue her from My hand. 11I will also put an end to all her joy, Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festivals. 12And I will destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will turn them into a forest, And the animals of the field will devour them. 13I will punish her for the days of the Baals When she used to offer sacrifices to them And adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,' declares the Lord. 14'Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her, Bring her into the wilderness, And speak kindly to her. 15Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will respond there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she went up from the land of Egypt. 16And it will come about on that day,' declares the Lord, 'That you will call Me my husband And no longer call Me my Baal. 17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will no longer be mentioned by their names. 18On that day I will also make a covenant for them With the animals of the field, The birds of the sky, And the crawling things of the ground. And I will eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And will let them lie down in safety. 19I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion, 20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord. 21'And it will come about on that day that I will respond,' declares the Lord. 'I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth, 22And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, And they will respond to Jezreel. 23I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they will say, ‘ You are my God!’?'King James Version
Chapter 2
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. 6Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
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.
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.
14Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
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.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 2
5Yes, their mother is promiscuous; she conceived them and acted shamefully. For she thought, "I will follow my lovers, the men who give me my food and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink." 6Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths. 7She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will think, "I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now." 8She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal. 9Therefore, I will take back my grain in its time and my new wine in its season; I will take away my wool and linen, which were to cover her nakedness. 10Now I will expose her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from my power. 11I will put an end to all her celebrations: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her festivals. 12I will devastate her vines and fig trees. She thinks that these are her wages that her lovers have given her. I will turn them into a thicket, and the wild animals will eat them.
14Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
15There I will give her vineyards back to her and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
16In that day— this is the Lord’s declaration— you will call me, "My husband," and no longer call me, "My Baal."
17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; they will no longer be remembered by their names.
18On that day I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will shatter bow, sword, and weapons of war in the land and will enable the people to rest securely.
19I will take you to be my wife forever. I will take you to be my wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion.
20I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness, and you will know the Lord.
21On that day I will respond — this is the Lord’s declaration. I will respond to the sky, and it will respond to the earth.
22The earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.
23I will sow her in the land for myself, and I will have compassion on Lo-ruhamah; I will say to Lo-ammi: You are my people, and he will say, "You are my God."
New Living Translation
6'For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way.
7When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’
8She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has — the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.
9'But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness.
10I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands.
11I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days — all her appointed festivals.
12I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees, things she claims her lovers gave her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit.
13I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,' says the Lord.
14'But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.
15I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
16When that day comes,' says the Lord, 'you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’
17O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again.
18On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety.
19I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.
20I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.
21'In that day, I will answer,' says the Lord. 'I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain.
22Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel’ — ‘God plants!’
23At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’'
English Standard Version
Chapter 2
5For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 6Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. 7She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ 8And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. 9Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. 10Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. 11 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. 12And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them. 13And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord. 14"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. 16"And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
21"And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth,
22and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel,
23and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’"
New International Version
Chapter 2
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 Achor a door of hope. There she will respond 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. ’
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 in righteousness and justice, in 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.
23I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one. ’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people, ’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ "
New King James Version
