Hosea 2:7–15

⁷She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;

she will look for them but not find them.^l

Then she will say,

‘I will go back to my husband^m as at first,ⁿ

for then I was better off^o than now.’

⁸She has not acknowledged^p that I was the one

who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,^q

who lavished on her the silver and gold^r—

which they used for Baal.^s

⁹“Therefore I will take away my grain^t when it ripens,

and my new wine^u when it is ready.

I will take back my wool and my linen,

intended to cover her naked body.

¹⁰So now I will expose^v her lewdness

before the eyes of her lovers;^w

no one will take her out of my hands.^x

¹¹I will stop^y all her celebrations:^z

her yearly festivals, her New Moons,

her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.^a

¹²I will ruin her vines^b and her fig trees,^c

which she said were her pay from her lovers;^d

I will make them a thicket,^e

and wild animals will devour them.^f

¹³I will punish her for the days

she burned incense^g to the Baals;^h

she decked herself with rings and jewelry,ⁱ

and went after her lovers,^j

but me she forgot,^k”

declares the Lord.^l

¹⁴“Therefore I am now going to allure her;

I will lead her into the wilderness^m

and speak tenderly to her.

¹⁵There I will give her back her vineyards,

and will make the Valley of Achor^bn a door of hope.

There she will respond^co as in the days of her youth,^p

as in the day she came up out of Egypt.^q