ISRAEL’S ADULTERY FORGIVEN

14 Therefore, I am going to persuade her,

lead her to the wilderness,s

and speak tenderly to her.A

15 There I will give her vineyards back to hert

and make the Valley of AchorB,u

into a gateway of hope.

There she will respond as she did

in the days of her youth,v

as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.

16 In that day—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

you will call me, “My husband,”w

and no longer call me, “My Baal.”C

17 For I will remove the names of the Baals

from her mouth;

they will no longer be remembered by their names.

18 On that day I will make a covenant for them

with the wild animals, the birds of the sky,

and the creatures that crawl on the ground.x

I will shatter bow, sword,

and weapons of war in the landD,y

and will enable the people to rest securely.z

19 I will take you to be my wife forever.aa

I will take you to be my wife in righteousness,

justice, love, and compassion.ab

20 I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness,

and you will know the Lord.ac

21 On that day I will respondad—

this is the Lord’s declaration.

I will respond to the sky,

and it will respond to the earth.

22 The earth will respond to the grain,ae

the new wine, and the fresh oil,

and they will respond to Jezreel.

23 I will sow herE in the land for myself,af

and I will have compassionag

on Lo-ruhamah;

I will say to Lo-ammi:ah

You are my people,ai

and he will say, “You are my God.”