Hosea 2:7–15

⁷“She will ^apursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;

And she will seek them, but will not find them.

Then she will say, ‘^bI will go back to my ^cfirst husband,

For it was ^dbetter for me then than now!’

⁸“For she does ^anot know that it was ^bI who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil,

And lavished on her silver and gold,

Which they ¹used for Baal.

⁹“Therefore, I will ^atake back My grain at ¹harvest time

And My new wine in its season.

I will also take away My wool and My flax

Given to cover her nakedness.

¹⁰“And then I will ^auncover her lewdness

In the sight of her lovers,

And no one will rescue her out of My hand.

¹¹“I will also ^aput an end to all her gaiety,

Her ^bfeasts, her ^cnew moons, her sabbaths

And all her festal assemblies.

¹²“I will ^adestroy her vines and fig trees,

Of which she said, ‘These are my wages

Which my lovers have given me.’

And I will ^bmake them a forest,

And the ^cbeasts of the field will devour them.

¹³“I will punish her for the ^adays of the Baals

When she used to ^1boffer sacrifices to them

And ^cadorn herself with her ²earrings and jewelry,

And follow her lovers, so that she ^dforgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

¹⁴“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

^aBring her into the wilderness

And speak ¹kindly to her.

¹⁵“Then I will give her her ^avineyards from there,

And ^bthe valley of Achor as a door of hope.

And she will ^1csing there as in the days of her youth,

As in the ^dday when she came up from the land of Egypt.