Read Scripture ad-free with Bible Gateway Plus—trusted Study Bibles and commentaries beside every verse. Try it FREE for 7 days.
Log In/Sign Up

#
Hosea 2
New International Version

2 [a]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’(A)

### Israel Punished and Restored

2 “Rebuke your mother,(B) rebuke her,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous(C) look from her face
and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
3 Otherwise I will strip(D) her naked
and make her as bare as on the day she was born;(E)
I will make her like a desert,(F)
turn her into a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
4 I will not show my love to her children,(G)
because they are the children of adultery.(H)
5 Their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(I)
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(J)
6 Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.(K)
7 She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.(L)
Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husband(M) as at first,(N)
for then I was better off(O) than now.’
8 She has not acknowledged(P) that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,(Q)
who lavished on her the silver and gold(R)—
which they used for Baal.(S)

9 “Therefore I will take away my grain(T) when it ripens,
and my new wine(U) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
intended to cover her naked body.
10 So now I will expose(V) her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers;(W)
no one will take her out of my hands.(X)
11 I will stop(Y) all her celebrations:(Z)
her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.(AA)
12 I will ruin her vines(AB) and her fig trees,(AC)
which she said were her pay from her lovers;(AD)
I will make them a thicket,(AE)
and wild animals will devour them.(AF)
13 I will punish her for the days
she burned incense(AG) to the Baals;(AH)
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,(AI)
and went after her lovers,(AJ)
but me she forgot,(AK)”
declares the Lord.(AL)

14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness(AM)
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor[b](AN) a door of hope.
There she will respond[c](AO) as in the days of her youth,(AP)
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(AQ)

16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;(AR)
you will no longer call me ‘my master.[d]’
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(AS)
no longer will their names be invoked.(AT)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the creatures that move along the ground.(AU)
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolish(AV) from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.(AW)
19 I will betroth(AX) you to me forever;
I will betroth you in[e] righteousness and justice,(AY)
in[f] love and compassion.(AZ)
20 I will betroth you in[g] faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge(BA) the Lord.(BB)

21 “In that day I will respond,”
declares the Lord—
“I will respond(BC) to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
the new wine and the olive oil,(BD)
and they will respond to Jezreel.[h](BE)
23 I will plant(BF) her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[i](BG)’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[j]’ ‘You are my people’;(BH)
and they will say, ‘You are my God.(BI)’”

#### Footnotes

1. Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.
2. Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
3. Hosea 2:15 Or sing
4. Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
5. Hosea 2:19 Or with
6. Hosea 2:19 Or with
7. Hosea 2:20 Or with
8. Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
9. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
10. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)

#### Cross references

1. Hosea 2:1 : ver 23; 1Pe 2:10
2. Hosea 2:2 : ver 5; S Isa 50:1; S Hos 1:2; 4:5
3. Hosea 2:2 : S Isa 1:21; S Eze 23:45
4. Hosea 2:3 : S Eze 16:37
5. Hosea 2:3 : Eze 16:4, 22
6. Hosea 2:3 : Isa 32:13-14
7. Hosea 2:4 : S Eze 8:18; Hos 1:6
8. Hosea 2:4 : Hos 5:7
9. Hosea 2:5 : S Jer 3:6; S Hos 1:2
10. Hosea 2:5 : Jer 44:17-18
11. Hosea 2:6 : S Job 3:23; S 19:8; S La 3:9
12. Hosea 2:7 : Hos 5:13
13. Hosea 2:7 : S Isa 54:5
14. Hosea 2:7 : Jer 2:2; S 3:1
15. Hosea 2:7 : S Eze 16:8
16. Hosea 2:8 : S Isa 1:3
17. Hosea 2:8 : S Nu 18:12
18. Hosea 2:8 : S Dt 8:18
19. Hosea 2:8 : ver 13; Eze 16:15-19; Hos 8:4
20. Hosea 2:9 : Hos 8:7
21. Hosea 2:9 : Hos 9:2
22. Hosea 2:10 : Eze 23:10
23. Hosea 2:10 : Jer 13:26
24. Hosea 2:10 : S Eze 16:37
25. Hosea 2:11 : Jer 7:34
26. Hosea 2:11 : S Isa 24:8
27. Hosea 2:11 : S Isa 1:14; Jer 16:9; Hos 3:4; 9:5; Am 5:21; 8:10
28. Hosea 2:12 : S Isa 7:23; S Jer 8:13
29. Hosea 2:12 : S Jer 5:17
30. Hosea 2:12 : S Jer 3:1
31. Hosea 2:12 : S Isa 5:6
32. Hosea 2:12 : Hos 5:7; 13:8
33. Hosea 2:13 : Isa 65:7
34. Hosea 2:13 : ver 8; S Jer 7:9; Hos 11:2
35. Hosea 2:13 : S Eze 16:17; S 23:40
36. Hosea 2:13 : Hos 4:13
37. Hosea 2:13 : Hos 4:6; 8:14; 13:6
38. Hosea 2:13 : S Jer 44:17; Hos 13:1
39. Hosea 2:14 : S Eze 19:13
40. Hosea 2:15 : S Jos 7:24, 26
41. Hosea 2:15 : Ex 15:1-18
42. Hosea 2:15 : S Jer 2:2; S Eze 16:22
43. Hosea 2:15 : S Eze 28:26; Hos 12:9
44. Hosea 2:16 : S Isa 54:5
45. Hosea 2:17 : Ex 23:13; Ps 16:4
46. Hosea 2:17 : S Jos 23:7; Zec 13:2
47. Hosea 2:18 : S Job 5:22
48. Hosea 2:18 : S Ps 46:9; S Isa 2:4; Zec 9:10
49. Hosea 2:18 : S Job 5:23; S Jer 23:6; Eze 34:25
50. Hosea 2:19 : S Isa 62:4; 2Co 11:2
51. Hosea 2:19 : S Isa 1:27
52. Hosea 2:19 : S Isa 54:8
53. Hosea 2:20 : Jer 31:34; Hos 4:1; 6:6; 13:4
54. Hosea 2:20 : S Eze 16:8
55. Hosea 2:21 : Isa 55:10; Zec 8:12; Mal 3:10-11
56. Hosea 2:22 : S Jer 31:12; Hos 14:7; Joel 2:19
57. Hosea 2:22 : S Eze 36:29-30; S Hos 1:4
58. Hosea 2:23 : S Jer 31:27
59. Hosea 2:23 : S Hos 1:6
60. Hosea 2:23 : S ver 1; S Isa 19:25; S Hos 1:10
61. Hosea 2:23 : S Jer 29:12; Ro 9:25*; 1Pe 2:10

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

### More on the NIV

- Unleash God's Word!

#### Bible Gateway Recommends

NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Red Letter Edition: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New International Version
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, The Woman's Study Bible, Full-Color, Red Letter: Receiving God's Truth for Balance, Hope, and Transformation
Retail: $49.99
Our Price: $34.99
Save: $15.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Journal the Word Bible, Red Letter, Comfort Print: Reflect, Take Notes, or Create Art Next to Your Favorite Verses
Retail: $39.99
Our Price: $27.99
Save: $12.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Artisan Collection Bible, Gilded Edges, Red Letter Edition, Comfort Print
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NIV, Chronological Study Bible, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New International Version
Retail: $49.99
Our Price: $34.99
Save: $15.00 (30%)
Buy Now
View more titles