New Living Translation | NET Bible |
1 “In that day you will call your brothers Ammi—‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah—‘The ones I love.’ | 1Then you will call your brother, "My People" (Ammi)! You will call your sister, "Pity" (Ruhamah)! |
2“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother— for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts. | 2Plead earnestly with your mother (for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband), so that she might put an end to her adulterous lifestyle, and turn away from her sexually immoral behavior. |
3Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness. | 3Otherwise, I will strip her naked, and expose her like she was when she was born. I will turn her land into a wilderness and make her country a parched land, so that I might kill her with thirst. |
4And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution. | 4I will have no pity on her children, because they are children conceived in adultery. |
5Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’ | 5For their mother has committed adultery; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, "I will seek out my lovers; they are the ones who give me my bread and my water, my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine. |
6“For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way. | 6Therefore, I will soon fence her in with thorns; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. |
7When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’ | 7Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch them; she will seek them, but she will not find them. Then she will say, "I will go back to my husband, because I was better off then than I am now." |
8She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has— the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal. | 8Yet until now she has refused to acknowledge that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil; and that it was I who lavished on her the silver and gold--which they used in worshiping Baal! |
9“But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness. | 9Therefore, I will take back my grain during the harvest time and my new wine when it ripens; I will take away my wool and my flax which I had provided in order to clothe her. |
10I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands. | 10Soon I will expose her lewd nakedness in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to rescue her from me! |
11I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days— all her appointed festivals. | 11I will put an end to all her celebration: her annual religious festivals, monthly new moon celebrations, and weekly Sabbath festivities--all her appointed festivals. |
12I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees, things she claims her lovers gave her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit. | 12I will destroy her vines and fig trees, about which she said, "These are my wages for prostitution that my lovers gave to me!" I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees into an uncultivated thicket, so that wild animals will devour them. |
13I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the LORD. The LORD’s Love for Unfaithful Israel | 13"I will punish her for the festival days when she burned incense to the Baal idols; she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but she forgot me!" says the LORD. |
14“But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. | 14However, in the future I will allure her; I will lead her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. |
15I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt. | 15From there I will give back her vineyards to her, and turn the "Valley of Trouble" into an "Opportunity for Hope." There she will sing as she did when she was young, when she came up from the land of Egypt. |
16When that day comes,” says the LORD, “you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’ | 16"At that time," declares the LORD, "you will call, 'My husband'; you will never again call me, 'My master.' |
17O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again. | 17For I will remove the names of the Baal idols from your lips, so that you will never again utter their names!" |
18On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety. | 18"At that time I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will abolish the warrior's bow and sword--that is, every weapon of warfare--from the land, and I will allow them to live securely." |
19I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. | 19I will commit myself to you forever; I will commit myself to you in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and tender compassion. |
20I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the LORD. | 20I will commit myself to you in faithfulness; then you will acknowledge the LORD." |
21“In that day, I will answer,” says the LORD. “I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain. | 21"At that time, I will willingly respond," declares the LORD. "I will respond to the sky, and the sky will respond to the ground; |
22Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’ | 22then the ground will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil; and they will respond to 'God Plants' (Jezreel)! |
23At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’” | 23Then I will plant her as my own in the land. I will have pity on 'No Pity' (Lo-Ruhamah). I will say to 'Not My People' (Lo-Ammi), 'You are my people!' And he will say, 'You are my God!'" |
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