2 1 The people is called to repentance. 5 He showeth their idolatry and threateneth them except they repent.
1 Say unto your [a]brethren, Ammi, and to your sisters, Ruhamah,
2 Plead with your [b]mother: plead with her: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: but let her take away her fornications out of her sight, and her adulteries [c]from between her breasts.
3 Lest I strip her naked, and [d]set her as in the day that she was [e]born, and make her as a wilderness, and leave her like a dry land, and slay her for thirst.
4 And I will have no pity upon her children: for they be the [f]children of fornication.
5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them, hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after thy [g]lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool, and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
6 Therefore behold, I will stoop [h]thy way with thorns, and make an hedge, that she shall not find her paths.
7 Though she follow after her lovers, yet shall she not come at them: though she seek them, yet shall she not find them: then shall she say, [i]I will go and return to my first husband: for at that time was I better than now.
8 Now she did not know that I [j]gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they bestowed upon Baal.
9 Therefore will I return, and take away [k]my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax lent, to cover her shame.
10 And now will I discover her [l]lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no man shall deliver her out of mine hand.
11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them as a forest, and the wild beasts shall eat them.
13 And I will visit upon her the days of [m]Baal, wherein she burnt incense to them: and she decked herself with her [n]earrings and her jewels, and she followed her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord.
14 Therefore behold, I will [o]allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak friendly unto her.
15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley [p]of Achor for the door of hope, and she shall [q]sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 And at that day, saith the Lord, thou shalt call me [r]Ishi, and shalt call me no more [s]Baali.
17 For I will take away the names of Baal out of her mouth, and they shall be no more remembered by their [t]names.
18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the [u]wild beasts, and with the fowls of the heaven, and with that that creepeth upon the earth: and I will break the bow, and the sword and the battle out of the earth: and will make them to sleep safely.
19 And I will marry thee unto me forever: yea, I will marry thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in mercy, and in compassion.
20 I will even marry thee unto me in [v]faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord.
21 And in that day I will hear, saith the Lord, I will even hear [w]the heavens, and they shall hear the earth,
22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel.
23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her, that was not pitied, (A)and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people. And they shall say, Thou art my God.
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:1 Seeing that I have promised you deliverance, it remaineth that you encourage one another to embrace the same, considering that ye are my people on whom I will have mercy.
- Hosea 2:2 God showeth that the fault was not in him, but in their Synagogue, and their idolatries, that he forsook them, Isa. 50:1.
- Hosea 2:2 Meaning, that their idolatry was so great, that they were not ashamed, but boasted of it, Ezek. 16:25.
- Hosea 2:3 For though this people were as an harlot for their idolatries, yet he had left them with their apparel and dowry and certain signs of his favor, but if they continued still, he would utterly destroy them.
- Hosea 2:3 When I brought her out of Egypt, Ezek. 16:4.
- Hosea 2:4 That is, bastards and begotten in adultery.
- Hosea 2:5 Meaning, the idol which they served, and by whom they thought they had wealth and abundance.
- Hosea 2:6 I will punish thee that then thou mayest try whether thine idols can help thee, and bring thee into such straightness that thou shalt have no lust to play the wanton.
- Hosea 2:7 This he speaketh of the faithful, which are truly converted, and also showeth the use and profit of God’s rods.
- Hosea 2:8 This declareth that idolaters defraud God of his honor, when they attribute his benefits to their idols.
- Hosea 2:9 Signifying, that God will take away his benefits when man by his ingratitude doth abuse them.
- Hosea 2:10 That is, all her service, ceremonies and inventions whereby she worshipped her idols.
- Hosea 2:13 I will punish her for her idolatry.
- Hosea 2:13 By showing how harlots trim themselves to please others, he declareth how that superstitious idolaters set a great part of their religion, in decking themselves on their holy days.
- Hosea 2:14 By my benefits in offering her grace and mercy, even in that place where she shall think herself destitute of all help and comfort.
- Hosea 2:15 Which was a plentiful valley, and wherein they had great comfort when they came out of the wilderness, as Josh. 7:26, and is called the door of hope, because it was a departing from death and an entry into life.
- Hosea 2:15 She shall then praise God as she did when she was delivered out of Egypt.
- Hosea 2:16 That is, mine husband, knowing that I am joined to thee by an inviolable covenant.
- Hosea 2:16 That is, my master: which name was applied to their idols.
- Hosea 2:17 No idolatry shall once come into their mouth, but they shall serve me purely according to my word.
- Hosea 2:18 Meaning, that he will so bless them that all creatures shall favor them.
- Hosea 2:20 With a covenant that never shall be broken.
- Hosea 2:21 Then shall the heaven desire rain for the earth which shall bring forth for the use of man.