1 s ay to your brethren, Ammi, and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

`Say ye to your brethren -- Ammi, And to your sisters -- Ruhamah.

2 P lead with your mother; plead, for she is not My wife and I am not her Husband; that she put away her harlotry from her face and her adulteries from between her breasts,

Plead ye with your mother -- plead, (For she not My wife, and I not her husband,) And she turneth her whoredoms from before her, And her adulteries from between her breasts,

3 L est I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her as a wilderness and set her like a parched land and slay her with thirst.

Lest I strip her naked. And have set her up as the day of her birth, And have made her as a wilderness, And have set her as a dry land, And have put her to death with thirst.

4 Y es, for her children I will have no love nor pity nor mercy, for they are the children of harlotry.

And her sons I do not pity, For sons of whoredoms they,

5 F or their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has done shamefully, for she said, I will go after my lovers that give me my food and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my refreshing drinks.

For gone a-whoring hath their mother, Acted shamefully hath their conceiver, For she hath said, I go after my lovers, Those giving my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.

6 T herefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns; and I will build a wall against her that she shall not find her paths.

Therefore, lo, I am hedging up thy way with thorns, And I have made for her a wall, And her paths she doth not find.

7 A nd 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, Let me go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now.

And she hath pursued her lovers, And she doth not overtake them, And hath sought them, and doth not find, And she hath said: I go, and I turn back unto My first husband, For -- better to me then than now.

8 F or she has not noticed, understood, or realized that it was I Who gave her the grain and the new wine and the fresh oil, and Who lavished upon her silver and gold which they used for Baal and made into his image.

And she knew not that I had given to her, The corn, and the new wine, and the oil. Yea, silver I did multiply to her, And the gold they prepared for Baal.

9 T herefore will I return and take back My grain in the time for it and My new wine in the season for it, and will pluck away and recover My wool and My flax which were to cover her nakedness.

Therefore do I turn back, And I have taken My corn in its season, And My new wine in its appointed time, And I have taken away My wool and My flax, covering her nakedness.

10 A nd now will I uncover her lewdness and her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of My hand.

And now do I reveal her dishonour before the eyes of her lovers, And none doth deliver her out of My hand.

11 I will also cause to cease all her mirth, her feastmaking, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts and appointed festive assemblies.

And I have caused to cease all her joy, Her festival, her new moon, and her sabbath, Even all her appointed times,

12 A nd I will lay waste and destroy her vines and her fig trees of which she has said, These are my reward or loose woman’s hire that my lovers have given me; and I will make an inaccessible forest, and the wild beasts of the open country shall eat them.

And made desolate her vine and her fig-tree, Of which she said, A gift they to me, That my lovers have given to me, And I have made them for a forest, And consumed them hath a beast of the field.

13 A nd I will visit upon her for the feast days of the Baals, when she burned incense to them and decked herself with her earrings and nose rings and her jewelry and went after her lovers and forgot Me, says the Lord.

And I have charged on her the days of the Baalim, To whom she maketh perfume, And putteth on her ring and her ornament, And goeth after her lovers, And Me forgat -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

14 T herefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart.

Therefore, lo, I am enticing her, And have caused her to go to the wilderness, And I have spoken unto her heart,

15 T here I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor to be for her a door of hope and expectation. And she shall sing there and respond as in the days of her youth and as at the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

And given to her her vineyards from thence, And the valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she hath responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.

16 A nd it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me Ishi, and you shall no more call Me Baali.

And it hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah, Thou dost call Me -- My husband, And dost not call Me any more -- My lord.

17 F or I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned or seriously remembered by their name.

And I have turned aside the names of the lords from her mouth, And they are not remembered any more by their name.

18 A nd in that day will I make a covenant for Israel with the living creatures of the open country and with the birds of the heavens and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword and conflict out of the land and will make you lie down safely.

And I have made to them a covenant in that day, with the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the creeping thing of the ground, And bow, and sword, and war I break from off the land, And have caused them to lie down confidently.

19 A nd I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.

And I have betrothed thee to Me to the age, And betrothed thee to Me in righteousness, And in judgment, and kindness, and mercies,

20 I will even betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness, and you shall know (recognize, be acquainted with, appreciate, give heed to, and cherish) the Lord.

And betrothed thee to Me in faithfulness, And thou hast known Jehovah.

21 A nd in that day I will respond, says the Lord; I will respond to the heavens, and they shall respond to the earth,

And it hath come to pass in that day, I answer -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I answer the heavens, and they answer the earth.

22 A nd the earth shall respond to the grain and the wine and the oil, and these shall respond to Jezreel.

And the earth doth answer the corn, And the new wine, and the oil, And they answer Jezreel.

23 A nd I will sow her for Myself anew in the land, and I will have love, pity, and mercy for her who had not obtained love, pity, and mercy; and I will say to those who were not My people, You are My people, and they shall say, You are my God!

And I have sowed her to Me in the land, And I have pitied Lo-Ruhamah, And I have said to Lo-Ammi, My people thou, and it saith, My God!'