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.”

WAITING FOR RESTORATION

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress,aj just as the Lord loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”ak

2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and nine bushels of barley.F,G,al 3 I said to her, “You are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.”

4 For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince,am without sacrificea or sacred pillar,b and without ephodc or household idols.d 5 Afterward, the people of Israel will returne and seek the Lord their God and David their king.f They will come with awe to the Lordg and to his goodness in the last days.