Hosea 2

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 “Say to your brothers, ‘You are my people,’ and to your sister, ‘You have obtained mercy.’
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 Judge your mother, judge: for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove her fornications from before her face and her adulteries from between her breasts.
3 Then call your brothers, 'My people', and your sisters, 'You have been pitied'.	3 Otherwise, I may expose her nakedness and set her as on the day of her birth, and I may establish her as a wilderness and set her as an impassable land, and I may execute her with thirst.
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 And I will not have mercy on her sons, for they are the sons of fornications.
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 For their mother has been fornicating; she who conceived them has been brought to ruin. 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.’
6 And I shal feel no pity for her children since they are the children of her whorings.	6 Because of this, behold, I will fence in your way with thorns, and I will surround it with a wall, and she will not find her paths.
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 And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not obtain them, and she will seek them, but she will not find them, and she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, because it was to some extent better for me then, than it is now.’
8 This is why I shal block her way with thorns, and wal her in to stop her in her tracks;	8 And she did not know that I gave her grain and wine and oil, and that I increased her silver and gold, which they made into Baal.
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 For this reason, I will turn back, and I will take away my grain in its time and my wine in its time, and I will set free my wool and my flax, which had covered her disgrace.
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 And now, I will reveal her foolishness by the eyes of her lovers, and no man will rescue her from my hand.
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 And I will cause all her joy to cease: her solemnities, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her feast dates.
12 and then display her infamy before her lovers' eyes- no one will take her from me then!	12 And I will corrupt her vines and her fig trees, about which she said, ‘These rewards, they are mine, my lovers have given them to me.’ And I will place her in a narrow forest, and the beasts of the field will devour her.
13 I shal put an end to al her merrymaking, her festivals, her New Moons and her Sabbaths and al hersolemn feasts.	13 And I will inflict on her the days of the Baals, for whom she burned incense, and ornamented herself with earrings and necklace, and went after her lovers, and forgot about me,” says the Lord.
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 “Because of this, behold, I will attract her, and I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart.
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 And I will give to her, from the same place, her vinedressers, and the valley of Achor as a passage of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in the days of her ascension from the land of Egypt.
16 But look, I am going to seduce her and lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.	16 And it will be in that day,” says the Lord, “that she will call me, ‘My Husband,’ and she will no longer call me, ‘My Baal.’
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 And I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and she will no longer remember their name.
18 When that day comes- declares Yahweh- you wil cal me, 'My husband', no more wil you cal me, 'MyBaal'.	18 And in that day, I will strike a deal with them, with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creatures of the earth. And I will crush the bow and the sword, and I will wipe away war from the earth. And I will let them sleep securely.
19 I shal banish the names of the Baals from her lips and their name wil be mentioned no more.	19 And I will betroth you to me forever, and I will betroth you to me in justice and judgment, and in mercy and compassion.
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 And I will wed you to me in faith, and you will know that I am the Lord.
21 I shal betroth you to myself for ever, I shall betroth you in uprightness and justice, and faithful loveand tenderness.	21 And this will happen in that day: I will listen closely,” says the Lord. “I will hear the heavens, and they will hear the earth.
22 Yes, I shall betroth you to myself in loyalty and in the knowledge of Yahweh.	22 And the land will pay attention to the grain, and the wine, and the oil; and these will hear Jezreel.
23 When that day comes, I shal respond -declares Yahweh- I shal respond to the heavens and they willrespond to the earth	23 And I will plant her for me in the land, and I will have mercy on her, though she had been called Without Mercy.
24 and the earth wil respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they wil respond to Jezreel.	24 And I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”
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.'