Hosea 2:1-22

New International Version

2 ^[a]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’^(A)

Israel Punished and Restored

²“Rebuke your mother,^(B) rebuke her,
    for she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous^(C) look from her face
    and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
³Otherwise I will strip^(D) her naked
    and make her as bare as on the day she was born;^(E)
I will make her like a desert,^(F)
    turn her into a parched land,
    and slay her with thirst.
⁴I will not show my love to her children,^(G)
    because they are the children of adultery.^(H)
⁵Their mother has been unfaithful
    and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,^(I)
    who give me my food and my water,
    my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’^(J)
⁶Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
    I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.^(K)
⁷She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
    she will look for them but not find them.^(L)
Then she will say,
    ‘I will go back to my husband^(M) as at first,^(N)
    for then I was better off^(O) than now.’
⁸She has not acknowledged^(P) that I was the one
    who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,^(Q)
who lavished on her the silver and gold^(R)—
    which they used for Baal.^(S)

⁹“Therefore I will take away my grain^(T) when it ripens,
    and my new wine^(U) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
    intended to cover her naked body.
¹⁰So now I will expose^(V) her lewdness
    before the eyes of her lovers;^(W)
    no one will take her out of my hands.^(X)
¹¹I will stop^(Y) all her celebrations:^(Z)
    her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
    her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.^(AA)
¹²I will ruin her vines^(AB) and her fig trees,^(AC)
    which she said were her pay from her lovers;^(AD)
I will make them a thicket,^(AE)
    and wild animals will devour them.^(AF)
¹³I will punish her for the days
    she burned incense^(AG) to the Baals;^(AH)
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,^(AI)
    and went after her lovers,^(AJ)
    but me she forgot,^(AK)”
declares the Lord.^(AL)

¹⁴“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
    I will lead her into the wilderness^(AM)
    and speak tenderly to her.
¹⁵There I will give her back her vineyards,
    and will make the Valley of Achor^[b]^(AN) a door of hope.
There she will respond^[c]^(AO) as in the days of her youth,^(AP)
    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.^(AQ)

¹⁶“In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;^(AR)
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.^[d]’
¹⁷I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;^(AS)
    no longer will their names be invoked.^(AT)
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.^(AU)
Bow and sword and battle
    I will abolish^(AV) from the land,
    so that all may lie down in safety.^(AW)
¹⁹I will betroth^(AX) you to me forever;
    I will betroth you in^[e] righteousness and justice,^(AY)
    in^[f] love and compassion.^(AZ)
²⁰I will betroth you in^[g] faithfulness,
    and you will acknowledge^(BA) the Lord.^(BB)

²¹“In that day I will respond,”
    declares the Lord—
“I will respond^(BC) 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,^(BD)
    and they will respond to Jezreel.^[h]^(BE)

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Footnotes

Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.
Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
Hosea 2:15 Or sing
Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
Hosea 2:19 Or with
Hosea 2:19 Or with
Hosea 2:20 Or with
Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.

Jeremiah 2:1-22

New International Version

Israel Forsakes God

2 The word^(A) of the Lord came to me: ²“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:

“This is what the Lord says:

“‘I remember the devotion of your youth,^(B)
    how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the wilderness,^(C)
    through a land not sown.
³Israel was holy^(D) to the Lord,^(E)
    the firstfruits^(F) of his harvest;
all who devoured^(G) her were held guilty,^(H)
    and disaster overtook them,’”
declares the Lord.

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob,
all you clans of Israel.

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
    that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols^(I)
    and became worthless^(J) themselves.
⁶They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,
    who brought us up out of Egypt^(K)
and led us through the barren wilderness,
    through a land of deserts^(L) and ravines,^(M)
a land of drought and utter darkness,
    a land where no one travels^(N) and no one lives?’
⁷I brought you into a fertile land
    to eat its fruit and rich produce.^(O)
But you came and defiled my land
    and made my inheritance detestable.^(P)
⁸The priests did not ask,
    ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;^(Q)
    the leaders^(R) rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,^(S)
    following worthless idols.^(T)

⁹“Therefore I bring charges^(U) against you again,”
declares the Lord.
    “And I will bring charges against your children’s children.
¹⁰Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus^(V) and look,
    send to Kedar^[a]^(W) and observe closely;
    see if there has ever been anything like this:
¹¹Has a nation ever changed its gods?
    (Yet they are not gods^(X) at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious^(Y) God
    for worthless idols.
¹²Be appalled at this, you heavens,
    and shudder with great horror,”
declares the Lord.
¹³“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken^(Z) me,
    the spring of living water,^(AA)
and have dug their own cisterns,
    broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
¹⁴Is Israel a servant, a slave^(AB) by birth?
    Why then has he become plunder?
¹⁵Lions^(AC) have roared;
    they have growled at him.
They have laid waste^(AD) his land;
    his towns are burned^(AE) and deserted.^(AF)
¹⁶Also, the men of Memphis^(AG) and Tahpanhes^(AH)
    have cracked your skull.
¹⁷Have you not brought this on yourselves^(AI)
    by forsaking^(AJ) the Lord your God
    when he led you in the way?
¹⁸Now why go to Egypt^(AK)
    to drink water from the Nile^[b]?^(AL)
And why go to Assyria^(AM)
    to drink water from the Euphrates?^(AN)
¹⁹Your wickedness will punish you;
    your backsliding^(AO) will rebuke^(AP) you.
Consider then and realize
    how evil and bitter^(AQ) it is for you
when you forsake^(AR) the Lord your God
    and have no awe^(AS) of me,”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

²⁰“Long ago you broke off your yoke^(AT)
    and tore off your bonds;^(AU)
    you said, ‘I will not serve you!’^(AV)
Indeed, on every high hill^(AW)
    and under every spreading tree^(AX)
    you lay down as a prostitute.^(AY)
²¹I had planted^(AZ) you like a choice vine^(BA)
    of sound and reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me
    into a corrupt,^(BB) wild vine?
²²Although you wash^(BC) yourself with soap^(BD)
    and use an abundance of cleansing powder,
    the stain of your guilt is still before me,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.^(BE)