Hosea 2:7-17

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 it was better with me than now.

8 For she did not recognize that I gave her the wheat and the wine and the oil and multiplied unto them the silver and the gold, with which they made Baal.

9 Therefore I will return and take away my wheat in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and will recover my wool and my flax that I had given to cover her nakedness.

10 And now I will uncover her folly in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her out of my hand.

11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast, her new moon, and her sabbath, and all her festivities.

12 And I will cause her vine and her fig tree to be cut down, of which she has said, These are my wages that my lovers have given me; and I will reduce them to a thicket, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13 And I will visit upon her the times of the Baals, unto whom she burned incense, and she adorned herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, oblivious of me, saith the LORD.

14 Therefore, behold, I will induce her and bring her into the wilderness and speak unto her heart.

15 And I will give her vineyards from there, 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.

16 And it shall be in that time, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me My Husband, and shalt no longer call me Baali.

17 For I will take away the names of Baals out of her mouth, and they shall no longer be remembered by their name.

Hosea 2:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 2

This chapter is an explanation of the former, proceeding upon the same argument in more express words. The godly Israelites are here called upon to lay before the body of the people their idolatry, ingratitude, obstinacy, and ignorance of the God of their mercies; and to exhort them to repentance, lest they should be stripped of all their good things, and be brought into great distress and difficulties; all their joy and comfort cease, and be exposed to shame and contempt, Ho 2:1-13, yet, notwithstanding, many gracious promises are made unto them, of their having the alluring and comfortable word of the Gospel; of a door of hope; of salvation being opened to them; of faith in the Lord, and affection to him as their husband; of the removal of all idolatry from them; of safety from all enemies; of their open espousal to Christ; of his hearing of their prayers, and giving them plenty of all good things; and of their multiplication, conversion, and covenant relation to God, Ho 2:14-23.