Hosea 2

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 But the Israelites wil become as numerous as the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured orcounted. In the very place where they were told, 'You are not my people,' they wil be told they are 'Children ofthe living God'.	1 Protest against your mother, protest! for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove her harlotry from before her, her adultery from between her breasts,
2 The Judaeans and Israelites will be reunited and wil choose themselves a single head, and will spreadfar beyond their country, for great will be the Day of Jezreel!	2 Or I will strip her naked, leaving her as on the day of her birth; I will make her like the desert, reduce her to an arid land, and slay her with thirst.
3 Then call your brothers, 'My people', and your sisters, 'You have been pitied'.	3 I will have no pity on her children, for they are the children of harlotry.
4 To court, take your mother to court! For she is no longer my wife nor am I her husband. She must eitherremove her whoring ways from her face and her adulteries from between her breasts,	4 Yes, their mother has played the harlot; she that conceived them has acted shamefully. "I will go after my lovers," she said, "who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink."
5 or I shal strip her and expose her naked as the day she was born; I shall make her as bare as thedesert, I shall make her as dry as arid country, and let her die of thirst.	5 Since she has not known that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, And her abundance of silver, and of gold, which they used for Baal,
6 And I shal feel no pity for her children since they are the children of her whorings.	6 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; I will snatch away my wool and my flax, with which she covers her nakedness.
7 Yes, their mother has played the whore, she who conceived them has disgraced herself by saying, 'Ishall chase after my lovers; they will assure me my keep, my wool, my flax, my oil and my drinks.'	7 So now I will lay bare her shame before the eyes of her lovers, and no one can deliver her out of my hand.
8 This is why I shal block her way with thorns, and wal her in to stop her in her tracks;	8 I will bring an end to all her joy, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her solemnities.
9 then if she chases her lovers she wil not catch them, if she looks for them she wil not find them, andthen she wil say, 'I shal go back to my first husband, I was better off then than I am now;'	9 I will lay waste her vines and fig trees, of which she said, "These are the hire my lovers have given me"; I will turn them into rank growth and wild beasts shall devour them.
10 she had never realised before that I was the one who was giving her the grain, new wine and oil,giving her more and more silver and gold which they have spent on Baal!	10 I will punish her for the days of the Baals, for whom she burnt incense While she decked herself out with her rings and her jewels, and, in going after her lovers, forgot me, says the LORD.
11 This is why I shal take back my grain when it is due and my new wine, when the season for it comes. Ishall withdraw my wool and my flax which were to cover her naked body,	11 Therefore, I will hedge in her way with thorns and erect a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths.
12 and then display her infamy before her lovers' eyes- no one will take her from me then!	12 If she runs after her lovers, she shall not overtake them; if she looks for them she shall not find them. Then she shall say, "I will go back to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now."
13 I shal put an end to al her merrymaking, her festivals, her New Moons and her Sabbaths and al hersolemn feasts.	13 So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.
14 I shal make her vines and fig trees derelict of which she used to say, 'These are the pay my loversgave me.' I shal turn them into a jungle: wild animals wil feed on them.	14 From there I will give her the vineyards she had, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt.
15 I mean to make her pay for the feast-days on which she burnt incense to the Baals, when she trickedherself out in her earrings and necklaces to chase after her lovers, and forget me! -declares Yahweh.	15 On that day, says the LORD, She shall call me "My husband," and never again "My baal."
16 But look, I am going to seduce her and lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.	16 Then will I remove from her mouth the names of the Baals, so that they shall no longer be invoked.
17 There I shall give her back her vineyards, and make the Vale of Achor a gateway of hope. There shewil respond as when she was young, as on the day when she came up from Egypt.	17 I will make a covenant for them on that day, with the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, and with the things that crawl on the ground. Bow and sword and war I will destroy from the land, and I will let them take their rest in security.
18 When that day comes- declares Yahweh- you wil cal me, 'My husband', no more wil you cal me, 'MyBaal'.	18 I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy;
19 I shal banish the names of the Baals from her lips and their name wil be mentioned no more.	19 I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the LORD.
20 When that day comes I shal make a treaty for them with the wild animals, with the birds of heavenand the creeping things of the earth; I shal break the bow and the sword and warfare, and banish them from thecountry, and I wil let them sleep secure.	20 On that day I will respond, says the LORD; I will respond to the heavens, and they shall respond to the earth;
21 I shal betroth you to myself for ever, I shall betroth you in uprightness and justice, and faithful loveand tenderness.	21 The earth shall respond to the grain, and wine, and oil, and these shall respond to Jezreel.
22 Yes, I shall betroth you to myself in loyalty and in the knowledge of Yahweh.	22 I will sow him for myself in the land, and I will have pity on Lo-ruhama. I will say to Lo-ammi, "You are my people," and he shall say, "My God!"
23 When that day comes, I shal respond -declares Yahweh- I shal respond to the heavens and they willrespond to the earth
24 and the earth wil respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they wil respond to Jezreel.
25 I shal sow her in the country to be mine, I shall take pity on Lo-Ruhamah, I shal tell Lo-Ammi, 'Youare my people,' and he will say, 'You are my God.'