Hosea 2

Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished

1 Say to your brethren, 1 'My people,'
And to your sisters, 2 'Mercy is shown.'

2 "Bring 3 charges against your mother, 4 bring charges;
For a she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!
Let her put away her b harlotries from her sight,
And her adulteries from between her breasts; 3 Lest c I strip her naked
And expose her, as in the day she was d born,
And make her like a wilderness,
And set her like a dry land,
And slay her with e thirst. 4 "I will not have mercy on her children,
For they are the f children of harlotry. 5 For their mother has played the harlot;
She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.
For she said, 'I will go after my lovers,
g Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my linen,
My oil and my drink.' 6 "Therefore, behold,
h I will hedge up your way with thorns,
And 5 wall her in,
So that she cannot find her paths. 7 She will 6 chase her lovers,
But not overtake them;
Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.
Then she will say,
i 'I will go and return to my j first husband,
For then it was better for me than now.' 8 For she did not k know
That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil,
And multiplied her silver and gold -
Which they prepared for Baal. 9 "Therefore I will return and take away
My grain in its time
And My new wine in its season,
And will take back My wool and My linen,
Given to cover her nakedness. 10 Now l I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,
And no one shall deliver her from My hand. 11 m I will also cause all her mirth to cease,
Her feast days,
Her New Moons,
Her Sabbaths -
All her appointed feasts. 12 "And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
Of which she has said,
'These are my wages that my lovers have given me.'
So I will make them a forest,
And the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13 I will punish her
For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense.
She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry,
And went after her lovers;
But Me she forgot," says the LORD.

The Lord's Mercy on Israel

14 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak 7 comfort to her. 15 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And n the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in o the days of her youth,
p As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

16 "And it shall be, in that day,"
Says the LORD,
"That you will call Me 8 'My Husband,'
And no longer call Me 9 'My Master,' 17 For q I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more. 18 In that day I will make a r covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
With the birds of the air,
And with the creeping things of the ground.
Bow and sword of battle s I will shatter from the earth,
To make them t lie down safely. 19 "I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy; 20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And u you shall know the LORD.

21 "It shall come to pass in that day
That v I will answer," says the LORD;
"I will answer the heavens,
And they shall answer the earth. 22 The earth shall answer
With grain,
With new wine,
And with oil;
They shall answer 10 Jezreel. 11 23 Then w I will sow her for Myself in the earth,
x And I will have mercy on her who had 12 not obtained mercy;
Then y I will say to those who were 13 not My people,
'You are 14 My people!'
And they shall say, 'You are my God!' "

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 50:1
    Thus says the LORD: "Where is the certificate of your mother's divorce, Whom I have put away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? For your iniquities you have sold yourselves, And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
  2. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:25
    You built your high places at the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry.
  3. Cross References
    Jeremiah 13:22
    And if you say in your heart, "Why have these things come upon me?" For the greatness of your iniquity Your skirts have been uncovered, Your heels made bare.
    Jeremiah 13:26
    Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face, That your shame may appear.
    Ezekiel 16:37 - 39
    Surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
  4. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:4 - 7
    As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
    Ezekiel 16:22
    And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood.
  5. Cross References
    Jeremiah 14:3
    Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads.
    Amos 8:11 - 13
    Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD.
  6. Cross References
    John 8:41
    "You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father - God."
  7. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:5
    Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine; And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians.
    Hosea 2:8
    For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold - Which they prepared for Baal.
    Hosea 2:12
    And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, Of which she has said, 'These are my wages that my lovers have given me.' So I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field shall eat them.
  8. Cross References
    Job 19:8
    He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths.
    Lamentations 3:7
    He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy.
    Lamentations 3:9
    He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.
  9. Cross References
    Luke 15:17
    But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
    Luke 15:18
    I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 54:5 - 8
    For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
    Jeremiah 2:2
    Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.
    Jeremiah 3:1
    They say, 'If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man's, May he return to her again?' Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me," says the LORD.
    Ezekiel 16:8
    When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine," says the Lord GOD.
    Ezekiel 23:4
    Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; They were Mine, And they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:3
    The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.
    Ezekiel 16:19
    Also My food which I gave you - the pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you - you set it before them as sweet incense; and so it was," says the Lord GOD.
  12. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:37
    Surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
  13. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:34
    Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.
    Jeremiah 16:9
    For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will cause to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
    Hosea 3:4
    For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
    Amos 5:21
    I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
    Amos 8:10
    I will turn your feasts into mourning, And all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist, And baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, And its end like a bitter day.
  14. Cross References
    Joshua 7:26
    Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.
  15. Cross References
    Jeremiah 2:1 - 3
    Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying.
    Ezekiel 16:8 - 14
    When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine," says the Lord GOD.
  16. Cross References
    Exodus 15:1
    Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: "I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!
  17. Cross References
    Exodus 23:13
    And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.
    Joshua 23:7
    And lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them.
    Psalms 16:4
    Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips.
  18. Cross References
    Job 5:23
    For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field, And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
    Isaiah 11:6 - 9
    The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.
    Ezekiel 34:25
    I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
  19. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:4
    He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.
    Ezekiel 39:1 - 10
    And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.
  20. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:5
    Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
    Isaiah 32:18
    My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
    Jeremiah 23:6
    In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
    Ezekiel 34:25
    I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
  21. Cross References
    Jeremiah 31:33
    But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
    Jeremiah 31:34
    "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
    Hosea 6:6
    For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
    Hosea 13:4
    Yet I am the LORD your God Ever since the land of Egypt, And you shall know no God but Me; For there is no savior besides Me.
    John 17:3
    And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
  22. Cross References
    Isaiah 55:10
    For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater.
    Zechariah 8:12
    For the seed shall be prosperous, The vine shall give its fruit, The ground shall give her increase, And the heavens shall give their dew - I will cause the remnant of this people To possess all these.
    Malachi 3:10
    Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
    Malachi 3:11
    And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the LORD of hosts.
  23. Cross References
    Jeremiah 31:27
    Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.
    Amos 9:15
    I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them," Says the LORD your God.
  24. Cross References
    Hosea 1:6
    And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: "Call her name LoRuhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away.
  25. Cross References
    Hosea 1:10
    "Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall...
    Zechariah 13:9
    I will bring the one -third through the fire, W...
    Romans 9:25
    As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My ...
    Romans 9:26
    "And it shall come to pass in the place where i...
    Ephesians 2:11 - 22
    Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in t...
    1 Peter 2:10
    Who once were not a people but are now the peop...
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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