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1 “On that day you will call your brothers Ammi, and you will call your sisters Ruhamah.*Ammi means “my people,” and Ruhamah means “pitied” or “loved.” 2 Condemn your mother, condemn her because she is not my wife and I am not her husband. Tell her to stop looking like a prostitute—get rid of the makeup and the provocative clothing.†Literally, “Let her remove her fornication from her face and her adultery from between her breasts.” The exact meaning is unclear. Possibilities include: the suggestive looks of a prostitute; the prostitute's makeup and jewelry; revealing clothing; or a prostitute's actions with her lovers. In any case the main sense is clear: Israel is to stop prostituting herself with other gods.
3 Otherwise I will strip her naked as the day she was born, and make her like a desert, a barren land, and let her die of thirst. 4 I will have no pity on her children because they are children of prostitution. 5 For their mother was a prostitute who conceived them in a shameful way. She said, ‘I'll run after my lovers who give me my food and water, my wool and flax and olive oil, and my drink.’
6 That is why I am going to block her path with thorn bushes, and build a stone wall to stop her so she won't find her way. 7 When she runs after her lovers she won't catch up with them; she'll look for them but she won't find them. Then she'll say, ‘Let me go back to my former husband, because it was better for me then than now.’
8 She doesn't consider that it was me who gave her grain, new wine, and olive oil; the silver and the gold which I gave her abundantly that they made into an idol of Baal. 9 So I will take back my ripened grain and my new wine I gave at harvest time. I will take back my wool and my flax I provided to cover her nakedness. 10 I will strip her naked while her lovers watch; no one will be able to rescue her from me. 11 I will put a stop to all her festivities: her feasts, new moon celebrations, special Sabbaths—all her festivals.‡While the celebrations mentioned are all part of the religious calendar, it seems that they had become an excuse for partying rather than true observance. 12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees that she said were given to her as payment for being a prostitute. I will turn them into scrub-land; only wild animals will eat the remaining fruit. 13 I will punish her for all the times she offered incense to Baal, dressing herself up, putting on rings and jewelry, going after her lovers, but forgetting about me, declares the Lord.
14 See what I'm going to do! I will win her back, taking her into the desert where I will speak to her heart-to-heart. 15 There I will return her vineyards to her and make the Valley of Achor§“Achor” means “trouble.” See Joshua 7:26. a door of hope. There she will respond to me as she did when she was young, as in the time when she left the land of Egypt. 16 Then on that day, says the Lord, you will call me ‘my husband’ and not ‘my Baal.’*“My Baal” would normally be translated as “my lord,” but since the context is that of Israel following pagan religions who called their god (s) “Baal” then this is more appropriate here. In addition, God wants the close relationship of being Israel's husband rather than simply her Lord. 17 I will stop her appealing to the Baals—their names won't be mentioned ever again.
18 At that time I will make a solemn agreement†Or “covenant.” Here it implies that these creatures will not hurt the people of Israel. with the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the ground. I will do away with the bow and the sword; I will abolish war from the land so you can lie down in safety. 19 I will make you my wife forever; I will make you my wife in goodness and justice and love and mercy. 20 I will be faithful to you, my wife, and you will know me as the Lord. 21 On that day, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens and they will answer the earth.‡This is usually understood to mean that the clouds will give rain to the earth. 22 The earth will answer the grain, and the new wine, and the olive oil, and they shall answer, ‘Jezreel’ (God sows). 23 I will ‘sow’ her for myself in the earth. I will love Lo-ruhamah (unloved) and I will say ‘you are my people’ to Lo-ammi (not my people), and they will say ‘You are my God.’ ”

*2:1 Ammi means “my people,” and Ruhamah means “pitied” or “loved.”

†2:2 Literally, “Let her remove her fornication from her face and her adultery from between her breasts.” The exact meaning is unclear. Possibilities include: the suggestive looks of a prostitute; the prostitute's makeup and jewelry; revealing clothing; or a prostitute's actions with her lovers. In any case the main sense is clear: Israel is to stop prostituting herself with other gods.

‡2:11 While the celebrations mentioned are all part of the religious calendar, it seems that they had become an excuse for partying rather than true observance.

§2:15 “Achor” means “trouble.” See Joshua 7:26.

*2:16 “My Baal” would normally be translated as “my lord,” but since the context is that of Israel following pagan religions who called their god (s) “Baal” then this is more appropriate here. In addition, God wants the close relationship of being Israel's husband rather than simply her Lord.

†2:18 Or “covenant.” Here it implies that these creatures will not hurt the people of Israel.

‡2:21 This is usually understood to mean that the clouds will give rain to the earth.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher