1 S ay to your brethren, ‘My people,’ And to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown. ’ God’s Unfaithful People

Say unto your brethren Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

2 “ Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts;

Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

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

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 as a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

4 “ I will not have mercy on her children, For they are the children of harlotry.

And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of whoredoms.

5 F or their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.’

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 my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

6 “ Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And wall her in, So that she cannot find her paths.

Therefore behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns; and I will fence in with a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

7 S he will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.’

And she shall pursue after her lovers, and shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, and shall not find them: and she shall say, I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now.

8 F or she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold— Which they prepared for Baal.

And she did not know that I had given her the corn and the new wine and the oil, and had multiplied to her the silver and gold, which they employed for Baal.

9 “ Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time And My new wine in its season, And will take back My wool and My linen, Given to cover her nakedness.

Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my new wine in its season, and will withdraw my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

10 N ow I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, And no one shall deliver her from My hand.

And now will I discover her impiety in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, Her feast days, Her New Moons, Her Sabbaths— All her appointed feasts.

And I will cause all her mirth to cease: her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths! and all her solemnities.

12 “ And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, Of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field shall eat them.

And I will make desolate her vine and her fig-tree, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards which my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13 I will punish her For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, And went after her lovers; But Me she forgot,” says the Lord. God’s Mercy on His People

And I will visit upon her the days of the Baals, wherein she burned incense to them, and decked herself with her rings and jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith Jehovah.

14 “ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.

Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart.

15 I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

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.

16 “ And it shall be, in that day,” Says the Lord, “ That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’

And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, thou shalt call me, My husband, and shalt call me no more, Baali;

17 F or I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

for I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

18 I n that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely.

And I will make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will break bow and sword and battle out of the land; and I will make them to lie down safely.

19 “ I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy;

And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; and I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies;

20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord.

and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know Jehovah.

21 “ It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer,” says the Lord; “I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth.

And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

22 T he earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil; They shall answer Jezreel.

and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel.

23 T hen I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”

And I will sow her unto me in the land; and I will have mercy upon Lo-ruhamah; and I will say to Lo-ammi, Thou art my people; and they shall say, My God.