Hosea 2 — ULB
2Verse 1Say to your brothers, 'My people!'
and to your sisters, 'You have been shown compassion.'”
Verse 2Bring a lawsuit against your mother, bring a lawsuit,for she is not my wife,
and neither am I her husband.Let her put away her prostitution from before herself,
and her acts of adultery from between her breasts.
Verse 3If not, I will strip her naked
and show her nakedness as on the day that she was born.
I will make her like the wilderness,
like a parched land,
and I will make her die from thirst.
Verse 4I will not have any mercy on her children,
for they are children of prostitution.
Verse 5For their mother has been a prostitute,
and she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
She said, “I will go after my lovers,
for they give me my bread and water,
my wool and flax,
my oil and drink.”
Verse 6Therefore I will build up a hedge to block her way with thorns.
I will build up a wall against her
so she cannot find her way.
Verse 7She will pursue her lovers,
but she will not overtake them.
She will seek them,
but she will not find them.
Then she will say,
“I will return to my first husband,
for it was better for me then than it is now.”
Verse 8For she had not known that it was I who gave her
the grain, the new wine and the oil,
and who lavished on her silver and gold,
which they then used for Baal.
Verse 9So I will take back her grain at harvest time,
and my new wine in its season.
I will take back my wool and flax
that were used to cover her nakedness.
Verse 10Then I will strip her naked in the sight of her lovers,
and no one will rescue her out of my hand.
Verse 11I will also cause all her celebrations to cease—
her feasts, her new moon celebrations, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed festivals.
Verse 12“I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
of which she has said,
'These are the wages that my lovers gave me.'
I will make them a forest,
and the animals of the field will eat them.
Verse 13I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals,
when she burned incense to them,
when she adorned herself with her rings and jewelry,
and she went after her lovers and forgot me—
this is Yahweh's declaration.”
Verse 14So I am going to win her back. I will bring her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
Verse 15I will give her back her vineyards,
and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
She will answer me there as she did in the days of her youth,
as in the days that she came out of the land of Egypt.
Verse 16“It will be in that day—this is Yahweh's declaration—
that you will call me, 'My husband,'
and you will no longer call me, 'My Baal.'
Verse 17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth;
their names will not be remembered anymore.”
Verse 18“On that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts in the fields,
with the birds in the sky,
and with the crawling things on the ground.
I will drive away the bow, the sword, and the battle from the land,
and I will make you lie down in safety.
Verse 19I will promise to be your husband forever.
I will promise to be your husband in righteousness, justice, covenant faithfulness, and mercy.
Verse 20I will pledge myself to you in faithfulness,
and you will know Yahweh.
Verse 21On that day,
I will answer—this is Yahweh's declaration—
I will answer the heavens,
and they will answer the earth.
Verse 22The earth will answer the grain, the new wine and the oil,
and they will answer Jezreel.
Verse 23I will plant her for myself in the land,
and I will have mercy on Lo-Ruhamah.
I will say to Lo-Ammi,
'You are Ammi Attah,'
and they will say to me, 'You are my God.'”
and to your sisters, 'You have been shown compassion.'”
Verse 2Bring a lawsuit against your mother, bring a lawsuit,for she is not my wife,
and neither am I her husband.Let her put away her prostitution from before herself,
and her acts of adultery from between her breasts.
Verse 3If not, I will strip her naked
and show her nakedness as on the day that she was born.
I will make her like the wilderness,
like a parched land,
and I will make her die from thirst.
Verse 4I will not have any mercy on her children,
for they are children of prostitution.
Verse 5For their mother has been a prostitute,
and she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
She said, “I will go after my lovers,
for they give me my bread and water,
my wool and flax,
my oil and drink.”
Verse 6Therefore I will build up a hedge to block her way with thorns.
I will build up a wall against her
so she cannot find her way.
Verse 7She will pursue her lovers,
but she will not overtake them.
She will seek them,
but she will not find them.
Then she will say,
“I will return to my first husband,
for it was better for me then than it is now.”
Verse 8For she had not known that it was I who gave her
the grain, the new wine and the oil,
and who lavished on her silver and gold,
which they then used for Baal.
Verse 9So I will take back her grain at harvest time,
and my new wine in its season.
I will take back my wool and flax
that were used to cover her nakedness.
Verse 10Then I will strip her naked in the sight of her lovers,
and no one will rescue her out of my hand.
Verse 11I will also cause all her celebrations to cease—
her feasts, her new moon celebrations, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed festivals.
Verse 12“I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
of which she has said,
'These are the wages that my lovers gave me.'
I will make them a forest,
and the animals of the field will eat them.
Verse 13I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals,
when she burned incense to them,
when she adorned herself with her rings and jewelry,
and she went after her lovers and forgot me—
this is Yahweh's declaration.”
Verse 14So I am going to win her back. I will bring her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
Verse 15I will give her back her vineyards,
and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
She will answer me there as she did in the days of her youth,
as in the days that she came out of the land of Egypt.
Verse 16“It will be in that day—this is Yahweh's declaration—
that you will call me, 'My husband,'
and you will no longer call me, 'My Baal.'
Verse 17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth;
their names will not be remembered anymore.”
Verse 18“On that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts in the fields,
with the birds in the sky,
and with the crawling things on the ground.
I will drive away the bow, the sword, and the battle from the land,
and I will make you lie down in safety.
Verse 19I will promise to be your husband forever.
I will promise to be your husband in righteousness, justice, covenant faithfulness, and mercy.
Verse 20I will pledge myself to you in faithfulness,
and you will know Yahweh.
Verse 21On that day,
I will answer—this is Yahweh's declaration—
I will answer the heavens,
and they will answer the earth.
Verse 22The earth will answer the grain, the new wine and the oil,
and they will answer Jezreel.
Verse 23I will plant her for myself in the land,
and I will have mercy on Lo-Ruhamah.
I will say to Lo-Ammi,
'You are Ammi Attah,'
and they will say to me, 'You are my God.'”