1:7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their G.o.d, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by hors.e.m.e.n.
1:8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
1:9 Then said G.o.d, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your G.o.d.
1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pa.s.s, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living G.o.d.
1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
2:1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
2:2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her wh.o.r.edoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s; 2:3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
2:4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of wh.o.r.edoms.
2:5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
2:6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
2:7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
2:8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
2:9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
2:10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.
2:11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
2:12 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 a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
2:13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
2:14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
2:15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
2:16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
2:17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
2:20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
2:21 And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; 2:22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
2:23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my G.o.d.
3:1 Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other G.o.ds, and love flagons of wine.
3:2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: 3:3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.
3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: 3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their G.o.d, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of G.o.d in the land.
4:2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
4:3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
4:4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
4:5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy G.o.d, I will also forget thy children.
4:7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
4:8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
4:9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
4:10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit wh.o.r.edom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
4:11 Wh.o.r.edom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
4:12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of wh.o.r.edoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their G.o.d.
4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit wh.o.r.edom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit wh.o.r.edom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with wh.o.r.es, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.
4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
4:17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
4:18 Their drink is sour: they have committed wh.o.r.edom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
4:19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
5:1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
5:2 And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.