Hosea 2:14-20
Expanded Bible
14 “So I am going to ·attract [allure; woo] her;
I will lead her into the ·desert [wilderness; C as in the Exodus, when God rescued Israel from slavery and cared for her; Ex. 12–17]
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and I will make the Valley of ·Trouble [L Achor; C see Josh. 7:1–26] a door of hope.
There she will ·respond [or sing] as ·when she was young [L in the days of her youth],
as when she came out of Egypt.”
16 The Lord says, “In the future she[a] will call me ‘my husband’;
no longer will she[b] call me ‘my baal [C “baal” can mean “husband,” “master,” or “Baal” (the Canaanite god); in this wordplay, Israel has replaced one husband (the Lord) with another (Baal)].’
17 I will ·never let her say [remove from her lips] the names of Baal again;
people won’t ·use [utter; invoke; or remember] their names anymore.
18 At that time I will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] for them
with the ·wild animals [L beasts of the field], the ·birds [L birds of the sky/heavens], and the ·crawling things [T creeping things of the ground].
I will ·smash [shatter; abolish] from the land
the bow and the sword and ·the weapons of war [or war; battle],
so my people will ·live [L lie down] in safety.
19 And I will ·make you my promised bride [L betroth you to me] forever.
I will ·be good and fair [L betroth you in righteousness and justice];
I will show you my ·love [loyalty; unfailing love; lovingkindness] and mercy.
20 I will ·be true to you as my promised bride [L betroth you in faithfulness],
and you will ·know [or acknowledge me as] the Lord.
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:16 she Greek, Aramaic and Latin copies read “she.” Hebrew copies read “you.”
- Hosea 2:16 she Greek, Aramaic and Latin copies read “she.” Hebrew copies read “you.”
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