Revised Standard Version RSV
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 Say to your brother, "My people," and to your sister, "She has obtained pity."
1
"So call your brothers Ammi [My People], and call your sisters Ruhamah [Loved].
2 "Plead with your mother, plead--for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband--that she put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts;
2
"Plead with your mother; plead with her. She no longer acts like my wife. She no longer treats me like her husband. Tell her to stop acting like a prostitute. Tell her to remove the lovers from between her breasts.
3 lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a parched land, and slay her with thirst.
3
If she refuses, I will strip her. I will leave her as naked as the day she was born. I will turn her into a dry and barren land, and she will die of thirst.
4 Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of harlotry.
4
I won't love her children, because they are children of a prostitute.
5 For their mother has played the harlot; she that conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'
5
Their mother acted like a prostitute. The woman who became pregnant with them did shameful things. She said, 'I'll chase after my lovers. They will give me food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine.'
6 Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns; and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths.
6
"That is why I will block her way with thornbushes and build a wall so that she can't get through.
7 She shall pursue her lovers, but not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then she shall say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now.'
7
She will run after her lovers, but she won't catch them. She will search for them, but she won't find them. Then she will say, 'I'll go back to my first husband. Things were better for me than they are now.'
8 And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold which they used for Ba'al.
8
"She doesn't believe that I gave her grain, new wine, and olive oil. I gave her plenty of silver and gold, but she used it to make statues of Baal.
9 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness.
9
That is why I will take back my grain when it has ripened and my new wine when it's in season. I will take away the wool and the linen that I gave her to cover her naked body.
10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
10
I will show her naked body to her lovers, and no one will rescue her from my power.
11 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts.
11
I will put an end to all her celebrations: her annual festivals, her New Moon Festivals, her weekly worship days--all her appointed festivals.
12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, 'These are my hire, which my lovers have given me.' I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
12
I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees. She said that they were gifts from her lovers. I will turn her vineyards into a forest, and wild animals will devour them.
13 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Ba'als when she burned incense to them and decked herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the LORD.
13
I will punish her for all the times she burned incense as an offering to other gods--the Baals. She put on her rings and jewelry, and she chased after her lovers. She forgot me," declares the LORD.
14 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
14
"That is why I'm going to win her back. I will lead her into the desert. I will speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
15
I will give her vineyards there. I will make the valley of Achor [Disaster] a door of hope. Then she will respond as she did when she was young, as she did when she came out of Egypt.
16 "And in that day, says the LORD, you will call me, 'My husband,' and no longer will you call me, 'My Ba'al.'
16
"On that day she will call me her husband," declares the LORD. "She will no longer call me her master.
17 For I will remove the names of the Ba'als from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more.
17
I won't allow her to say the names of other gods called Baal. She will never again call out their names.
18 And I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety.
18
"On that day I will make an arrangement with the wild animals, the birds, and the animals that crawl on the ground. I will destroy all the bows, swords, and weapons of war, so people can live safely.
19 And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.
19
"Israel, I will make you my wife forever. I will be honest and faithful to you. I will show you my love and compassion.
20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.
20
I will be true to you, my wife. Then you will know the LORD.
21 "And in that day, says the LORD, I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth;
21
"On that day I will answer your [prayers]," declares the LORD. "I will speak to the sky, it will speak to the earth,
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel;
22
and the earth will produce grain, new wine, and olive oil. You will produce many crops, Jezreel.
23 and I will sow him for myself in the land. And I will have pity on Not pitied, and I will say to Not my people, 'You are my people'; and he shall say 'Thou art my God.'"
23
I will plant my people in the land. Those who are not loved I will call my loved ones. Those who are not my people I will call my people. Then they will say, 'You are our God!'"
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.