Home Prior Books Index
←Prev   Hosea 2 as rendered by/in  Next→ 

Did you notice?
 You can SEARCH IslamAwakened: 

2:1  “You are to call your brothers, ‘my people [L Ammi; 1:9],’ and your sisters, ‘you have been shown pity [L Ruhama; 1:6–8].’
2:2  “·Plead with [or Rebuke; or Accuse; Bring charges against] your mother [C the nation Israel]. ·Plead with [or Rebuke; or Accuse; Bring charges against] her, because she is ·no longer [L not] my wife, and I am ·no longer [L not] her husband. Tell her to ·stop acting like a prostitute [or take off her prostitute’s make-up; L set aside her harlotries from her presence/face], ·to stop behaving like an unfaithful wife [L and set aside unfaithfulness from between her breasts].
2:3  If she refuses, I will strip her naked and ·leave her bare [expose her] like the day she was born. I will make her dry like a desert, like a ·land without water [parched land], and I will kill her with thirst.
2:4  I will not ·take pity [have mercy/compassion] on her children, because they are the children of ·a prostitute [or adultery; harlotry].
2:5  Their mother has ·acted like a prostitute [been unfaithful; committed adultery]; the one who ·became pregnant with [conceived] them has acted ·disgracefully [shamefully]. She said, ‘I will ·chase [seek; go] after my lovers [C the idol-worshiping nations around Israel], who give me my ·food [bread] and water, wool and flax, ·wine [L drinks] and olive oil.’
2:6  So I will ·block her road [or fence/hedge her in] with thornbushes; I will ·build a wall around her [wall her in] so she cannot find her way.
2:7  She will ·run after [pursue] her lovers, but she won’t catch them. She will look for them, but she won’t find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband [C God], because life was better then for me than it is now.’
2:8  But she does not ·know [acknowledge] that I was the one who gave her grain, new wine, and oil. I ·gave her much [lavished on her] silver and gold, but ·she [L they; C the nation] used it for Baal.
2:9  “So I will come back and take away my grain ·at harvest time [L in its time] and my new wine ·when it is ready [L in its season/appointed time]. I will take back my wool and ·linen [flax] that covered her nakedness.
2:10  So I will ·show her nakedness [uncover her lewdness/shamelessness] to her lovers, and no one will ·save [rescue] her from ·me [L my hand].
2:11  I will put an end to all her ·celebrations [merrymaking]: her yearly festivals, her New Moon festivals, and her Sabbaths. I will stop all of her ·special [appointed] feasts.
2:12  I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers. I will turn them into a ·forest [overgrown thicket], and ·wild animals [beasts of the field] will eat them.
2:13  I will punish her for all the ·times [days; C pagan feast days] she burned incense to the Baals [C the local gods of the Canaanites worshiped by the Israelites]. She ·put on her [adorned herself with] ·rings [or earrings] and jewelry and went ·chasing after [out to] her lovers, but she forgot me!” says the Lord.
2:14  “So I am going to ·attract [allure; woo] her; I will lead her into the ·desert [wilderness; C as in the Exodus, when God rescued Israel from slavery and cared for her; Ex. 12–17] and speak tenderly to her.
2:15  There I will give her back her vineyards, and I will make the Valley of ·Trouble [L Achor; C see Josh. 7:1–26] a door of hope. There she will ·respond [or sing] as ·when she was young [L in the days of her youth], as when she came out of Egypt.”
2:16  The Lord says, “In the future she will call me ‘my husband’; no longer will she call me ‘my baal [C “baal” can mean “husband,” “master,” or “Baal” (the Canaanite god); in this wordplay, Israel has replaced one husband (the Lord) with another (Baal)].’
2:17  I will ·never let her say [remove from her lips] the names of Baal again; people won’t ·use [utter; invoke; or remember] their names anymore.
2:18  At that time I will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] for them with the ·wild animals [L beasts of the field], the ·birds [L birds of the sky/heavens], and the ·crawling things [T creeping things of the ground]. I will ·smash [shatter; abolish] from the land the bow and the sword and ·the weapons of war [or war; battle], so my people will ·live [L lie down] in safety.
2:19  And I will ·make you my promised bride [L betroth you to me] forever. I will ·be good and fair [L betroth you in righteousness and justice]; I will show you my ·love [loyalty; unfailing love; lovingkindness] and mercy.
2:20  I will ·be true to you as my promised bride [L betroth you in faithfulness], and you will ·know [or acknowledge me as] the Lord.
2:21  “At that time I will ·speak to you [answer; respond],” says the Lord. “I will ·speak to [answer; respond to] the ·skies [or heavens], and they will ·give rain to [L answer; respond to] the earth.
2:22  The earth will ·produce [L answer/respond with] grain, new wine, and oil; ·much will grow because my people are called [L and they will answer/respond to] Jezreel [C “God plants”; 1:4, 11].
2:23  I will plant ·my people [L her for myself] in the land, and I will show pity to the one I had called ‘·not shown pity [L Lo-Ruhamah; 1:6–7].’ I will say, ‘You are my people’ to those I had called ‘·not my people [L Lo-Ammi; 1:9].’ And they will say to me, ‘You are our God.’”