CHAPTER 2
1 Say ye to your brethren, They be my people; and to your sister(s), That (that) hath gotten mercy, (Say ye to your brothers, They be Ammi, or My People; and to your sisters, Ruhamah, or Ye be loved.)
2 Deem ye your mother, deem ye, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Do she away her fornications from her face, and her adulteries from the midst of her breasts; (Plead ye with your mother, yea, plead ye with her, for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Do she away her adulteries, or her idolatries, from before her, and her adulteries from the midst of her breasts;)
3 lest peradventure I spoil her naked, and set her naked by the day of her nativity. And I shall set her as a wilderness, and I shall ordain her as a land without (a) way, and I shall slay her in thirst. (lest perhaps I strip her naked, yea, make her as naked as she was on the day of her birth. And I shall make her as bare as a wilderness, and I shall ordain her as a land without a way, and I shall kill her with thirst.)
4 And I shall not have mercy on the sons of her, for they be the sons of fornications; (And then I shall not have mercy on her children, for they be the children of adulteries, or of idolatries;)
5 for the mother of them did fornication, she is shamed that conceived them, for she said, I shall go after my lovers, that give [my] loaves to me, and my waters, and my wool, and my flax, and mine oil, and my drink. (for their mother did adultery, or idolatry, yea, she is shamed who conceived them, for she said, I shall go after my lovers, who give me my bread, and my water, and my wool, and my flax, and my oil, and my drink.)
6 For this thing, lo! I shall hedge thy way with thorns, and I shall hedge it (about) with a wall, and she shall not find her paths.
7 And she shall follow her lovers, and shall not (over)take them, and she shall seek them, and shall not find [them]; and she shall say, I shall go, and turn again to my former husband, for it was well to me then more than now. (And she shall follow after her lovers, but shall not overtake them, and she shall seek after them, but shall not find them; and then she shall say, I shall go, and return to my former husband, for it was better for me then, than it is now.)
8 And this Jerusalem knew not, that I gave to her wheat, wine, and oil; and I multiplied silver and gold to her, (of) which they made (offering) to Baal. (And this Jerusalem knew not, that it was I who gave her the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and I multiplied her silver and her gold, which they then offered to Baal.)
9 Therefore I shall turn (again), and take (back) my wheat in his time, and my wine in his time; and I shall deliver my wool, and my flax, by which they covered the shame thereof. (And so I shall return, and take back my corn in its time, and my wine in its time; and I shall take away my wool, and my flax, with which she covered her shame, or her nakedness.)
10 And now I shall show the folly of her before the eyes of her lovers, and a man shall not deliver her from mine hand; (And now I shall show her folly to her lovers, and no one shall be able to rescue her out of my hands;)
11 and I shall make to cease all the joy thereof, the solemnity thereof, the new moon thereof, that is, the feast of the new moon, the sabbath thereof, and all the feast times thereof. (and I shall make to cease all her joy, and all her solemn feasts, yea, her new moons, that is, the feast of the new moon, and her Sabbaths, and her other feasts.)
12 And I shall destroy the vinery thereof, [and her fig tree], of which she said, These be mine hires which my lovers gave to me; and I shall set it into a forest, and a beast of the field shall eat it. (And I shall destroy her vines, and her fig trees, of which she said, These be my wages which my lovers gave me; and I shall turn them into a forest, and the wild beasts shall eat them, or shall destroy them, or and the beasts of the fields shall eat there.)
13 And I shall visit on it*(for) the days of (the) Baalim, in which it burnt incense, and was adorned with her earring(s), and her brooch, and went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord. (And I shall punish her for the days in which she burned incense to the Baalim, and was adorned with her earrings, and her brooches, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord.)
14 For this thing lo! I shall give milk to it, and I shall bring it into wilderness, and I shall speak to the heart thereof. (And then behold! I shall give her milk, and I shall bring her into the wilderness again, and I shall speak to her heart or and I shall speak words of love to her.)
15 And I shall give to it vine-tillers thereof of the same place, and the valley of Achor, that is, of troubling, for to open hope. And it shall sing there by the days of her youth, and by the days of her going up from the land of Egypt. (And I shall give her back her vineyards from the same place, and turn the Valley of Achor, that is, the Valley of Trouble, into a door of hope. And she shall sing there like in the days of her youth, and like in the days of her going out of the land of Egypt.)
16 And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord, she shall call me Mine husband, and she shall no more call me Baali; (And it shall be on that day, saith the Lord, that she shall call me Ishi, or My husband, and she shall no more call me Baali, or My lord, or My master;)
17 and I shall take away the names of Baalim from her mouth, and she shall no more have mind of the name(s) of those. (and I shall take away the names of the Baalim from out of her mouth, and no more shall she remember their names.)
18 And I shall smite to them a bond of peace in that day, with the beast of the field, and with the bird of the air, and with the creeping beast of the earth. And I shall all-break bow, and sword, and battle from [the] earth; and I shall make them to sleep trustily. (And on that day, I shall strike a covenant for them with the wild beasts, and with the birds of the air, and with the creeping beasts of the earth. And I shall altogether break the bow, and the sword, and the battle from off the earth, and then they all shall be able to sleep with trust, or in peace.)
19 And I shall spouse thee to me [into] without end; and I shall spouse thee to me in rightfulness, and in doom, and in mercy, and in merciful doings. (And I shall betroth thee to me forever; and I shall betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in judgement, and in love, and in giving mercy.)
20 And I shall spouse thee to me in faith; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. (And I shall betroth thee to me in faith; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.)
21 And it shall be, in that day I shall hear, saith the Lord, and I shall hear (the) heavens, and those shall hear the earth; (And it shall be, on that day, that I shall give an answer, saith the Lord, and I shall answer with the heavens, and they shall answer with the earth;)
22 and the earth shall hear (the) wheat, and wine, and oil, and these shall hear Jezreel. (and the earth shall answer with the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and all of them shall answer with Jezreel, that is, with Israel.)
23 And I shall sow it to me into a land, and I shall have mercy on it that was without mercy. And I shall say to that, that is not my people, Thou art my people, and it shall say, Thou art my God. (And I shall sow Israel in the land for me, and I shall show love to Loruhamah, and I shall say to Loammi, Thou art my people, and they shall say to me, or he shall say to me, Thou art my God.)
* CHAPTER 2:13 In Chapters 2 and 3 of Hosea, where the “Later Version” uses ‘it’ and ‘thereof’, the “Early Version” and other translations use ‘she’ and ‘her’.