1 “ Say to your brothers, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one.’ God’s People Who Are Not Faithful

say to your brethren, Ammi, and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

2 “ Speak with strong words to your mother. Speak with strong words, for she is not My wife and I am not her husband. Tell her to stop selling the use of her body and giving herself to other men.

Plead 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,

3 I f she does not, I will put her to shame by taking off her clothes and show her as when she was born. I will make her like a desert, like a hot and dry land, and will kill her with thirst.

Lest 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.

4 I will have no loving-pity on her children, for they are children of her sinful ways.

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

5 T heir mother has not been faithful. She who gave birth to them has acted in shame. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers. They give me my bread and water, my wool and linen, my oil and my drink.’

For 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.

6 S o I will put thorn bushes in her way. I will build a wall so that she cannot find her way.

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

7 S he will go after her lovers but will not catch up with them. She will look for them but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband. For it was better for me then than now.’

And 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.

8 “ She does not know that it was I Who gave her the grain, the new wine, the oil, and all the silver and gold, which they used for the false god Baal.

For 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.

9 S o I will take back My grain during the gathering time, and My new wine during its time. And I will take away My wool and My linen, which were given to cover her.

Therefore 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.

10 S o I will take away the covering of her shame in the eyes of her lovers. And no one will take her out of My hand.

And 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.

11 I will put an end to all her fun, her special suppers, her new moons, her Days of Rest, and all her special times for gathering together.

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.

12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers. I will make many trees grow wild among them, and the animals of the field will eat them.

And 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.

13 I will punish her for the days she gave gifts in worship to the false gods of Baal. I will punish her for the times she forgot Me, and put on rings and other beautiful objects and went after her lovers” says the Lord. God’s Loving-Kindness for His People

And 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.

14 “ So I will lead her into the desert and speak words of comfort to her.

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

15 I will give her grape-fields there, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And she will sing there as she did when she was young, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.

There 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.

16 I n that day” says the Lord, “you will call Me, ‘My Husband.’ And you will no longer call Me, ‘My Baal.’

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

17 F or I will take the names of the Baals from her mouth. The names of these false gods will never be spoken again.

For 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.

18 I n that day I will make an agreement for them with the wild animals of the field, the birds of the sky, and the things which move upon the ground. I will put an end to the bow, the sword, and war in all the land. And I will let My people lie down in peace and be safe.

And 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.

19 I will promise to make you Mine forever. Yes, I will take you as My bride in what is right and good and fair, and in loving-kindness and in loving-pity.

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

20 I will keep My promise and make you Mine. Then you will know the Lord.

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.

21 “ In that day” says the Lord, “I will give an answer to the heavens, and they will give an answer to the earth.

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

22 T he earth will give an answer to the grain, the new wine, and the oil. And they will give an answer to Jezreel.

And the earth shall respond to the grain and the wine and the oil, and these shall respond to Jezreel.

23 I will plant her for Myself in the land. Those who were not loved, I will call, ‘My loved ones.’ Those who were not My people, I will call, ‘My people.’ And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

And 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!