Hosea 2

The LORD charges unfaithful Israel like a husband charges his adulterous wife. She chased after her lovers and did not know that the LORD gave her the grain, wine, and oil. He will hedge up her way with thorns until she says, "I will go back to my first husband." Then the LORD will allure her, speak tenderly to her, and betroth her to Himself forever.

v	King James Version	Modern English
1	Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.	Say to Your brothers, "My people," and to Your sisters, "My beloved."
2	Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;	Plead with Your mother — plead with her! For she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her put away her whoredoms and her adulteries from between her breasts,
3	Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.	or I will strip her naked and expose her as on the day she was born. I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and let her die of thirst.
4	And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.	I will not show mercy to her children, because they are the children of whoredoms.
5	For 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.	Their mother has played the harlot and done shamefully. She said, "I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink."
6	Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.	Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes. I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
7	And 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.	She 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 first husband, for I was better off then than now."
8	For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.	She did not know that I was the one giving her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil — and that I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal.
9	Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.	Therefore I will take back My grain when it ripens and My new wine when it is ready. I will take away My wool and My linen, which I gave her to cover her nakedness.
10	And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.	So I will expose her shame before the eyes of her lovers, and no one will take her out of My hands.
11	I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.	I will stop all her celebrations — her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days, all her appointed feasts.
12	And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.	I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were payment from her lovers. I will turn them into a thicket, and wild animals will devour them.
13	And 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.	I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals, when she adorned herself with rings 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 comfortably unto her.	Therefore I am now going to draw her away and lead her into the desert, and speak tenderly to her.
15	And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.	There I will give her back her vineyards and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. She will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
16	And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.	"In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call Me 'my husband.' You will no longer call Me 'my master.'
17	For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.	I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.
18	And 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.	In 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. I will abolish the bow and sword and battle from the land, so that all may rest in safety.
19	And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.	I will betroth You to Me forever. I will betroth You in righteousness and justice, in love and mercy.
20	I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.	I will betroth You in faithfulness, and You will know the LORD.
21	And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;	In that day I will respond," declares the LORD — "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth;
22	And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.	the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.
23	And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.	I will plant her for Myself in the land. I will show mercy to the one I called 'Not My people.' I will say to those called 'Not My people,' 'You are My people,' and they will say, 'You are my God.' "