1 “ Say to your brothers, ‘My people!’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one!’

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

2 C ontend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

“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.

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

If 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.

4 I ndeed, on her children I will have no mercy; for they are children of unfaithfulness;

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

5 F or their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; for she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’

Their 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.’

6 T herefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can’t find her way.

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

7 S he will follow after her lovers, but she won’t overtake them; and she will seek them, but won’t find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.’

She 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.’

8 F or she did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

“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.

9 T herefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my new wine in its season, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

So 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.

10 N ow I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of my hand.

So 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.

11 I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

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.

12 I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest,’ and the animals of the field shall eat them.

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.

13 I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me,” says Yahweh.

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

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

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

15 I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

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.

16 I t will be in that day,” says Yahweh, “that you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer call me ‘my master.’

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

17 F or I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.

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

18 I n that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.

In 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.

19 I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.

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.

20 I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know Yahweh.

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

21 I t will happen in that day, I will respond,” says Yahweh, “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;

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

22 a nd the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel.

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

23 I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘My God!’”

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!’”