And he said, "{Name him} Lo-ammi, for you [are] not my people and I am not your [God].

The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or counted; and in the place where it is said to them, "You are not my people," it will be said to them, "Children of [the] living God."

Plead with your mother, plead-- because she [is] not my wife, and I [am] not her husband. Let her put away her whoring {from before her}, and her adultery from between her breasts.

Because their mother was unfaithful; she who conceived them has acted shamefully, for she said: "I will go after my lovers, the ones who give [me] my bread, my water, my wool, and my flax, my oil, and my drink."

Then she will pursue {her lovers}, but she will not overtake them; she will seek them and not find [them]; and she will say, "I will go and return to my first husband because [it was] better for me then than now."

Therefore I will take again 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.

And now I will uncover her nakedness before the eyes of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from my hand.

and I will lay waste to her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, "They [are] my payment for prostitution, which my lovers gave to me." I will make them a forest, and the wild animals of the field will devour them.

{I will punish her} [for] the days of the Baals, to whom she burns incense, and she decked herself [with] her ornamental ring and jewelry, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me --a declaration of Yahweh.

{And on that day}-- a declaration of Yahweh-- you will call me, "My husband;" you will no longer call me, "My Baal."

And I will take you as my wife forever; I will take you as a wife for myself in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.

{I will take you as my wife} in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh.

I will sow her for myself in the land; I will have pity on Lo-ruhama; I will say to Lo-ammi, "You are my people," and he himself will say, "[you are] my God."

And Yahweh said to me again, "Go, love a woman {who has a lover} and [is] committing adultery, just like the love of Yahweh [for] the children of Israel, but they [are] turning to other gods and love raisin cakes."

Yet, let no one contend, and let no one accuse, for with you, O priest, [is my] contention.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from acting as a priest for me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

When they became many, their sin increased against me; they changed their glory into shame.

{They feed on the sin of my people}, {they are greedy} for their iniquity.

My people, consult {their wooden idols}, and their divining rod gives them oracles; because a spirit of whoredom led [them] astray, and they played the whore from under their God.

I myself know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; because now you have played the whore, Ephraim-- Israel is defiled.

The princes of Judah have become like those who remove a landmark; on them I will pour out my wrath like water.

{I will return again} to my place until they acknowledge [their] guilt and seek my face; in their distress they will search me.

He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live in his presence.

Therefore, I have hewn [them] by [the] prophets; I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth like the light.

But like Adam, they transgressed [the] covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.

For you also, Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore the fortunes of my people,

{But they did not consider} that I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.

All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen; there is none who calls to me amongst them.

Just as they go, I will cast my net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the heavens; I will discipline them according to a report to their assembly.

Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I myself would redeem them, but they speak lies against me.

They do not cry out to me from their heart, but they wail on their beds; because of grain and new wine they lacerate themselves; they depart from me.

And I myself trained and strengthened their arms; but they plan evil against me.

[Put] to your lips [the] trumpet like a vulture over the house of Yahweh, because they have {broken my covenant} and rebelled against my law.

They cry out to me, "My God! We, Israel, know you!"

They appointed kings, but not through me; they made officials, but without my knowledge. [With] their silver and gold they made idols for themselves for their own {destruction}.

Your calf is rejected, Samaria; my anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?

I write for him myriads of my instruction; they are regarded as a strange thing.

They offer sacrifices of my choice and they eat flesh; Yahweh does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they will return [to] Egypt.

The prophet keeps watch [over] Ephraim for my God; the snare of a fowler [is] on all his ways, and hostility in the house of his God.

Every evil of theirs [began] at Gilgal, so I [began] to hate them there; because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out from my house. I will love them no more; all their officials [are] rebels.

My God will reject them because they did not listen to him, and they will be wanderers among the nations.

In my desire I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them when they are punished for {their double iniquities}.

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

When I called them, they went from my face. They sacrificed to the Baals, and they sacrificed to idols.

And I myself taught Ephraim to walk; I took them in my arms, but they did not know that I healed them.

My people are bent on backsliding from me. To the Most High they call, he does not raise them at all.

How can I give you up, Ephraim? [How] can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? [How] can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is disturbed within me; {all} my compassions are aroused.

{I will not execute} {my fierce anger}, I will not again destroy Ephraim; because I [am] God and not a mortal, [the] Holy [One] in your midst; and I will not come in wrath.

Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; and Judah is still wandering with God and [is] faithful to the Holy One.

And Ephraim said, "Surely, I am rich, I gained wealth for myself; in all my toil they have not found guilt in me that is [sin].

I [am] Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt; you know no god except me, and no one saves besides me.

When I fed them, they were satisfied; they were satisfied and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.

Where now [is] your king that he may save you? [Where] in all your cities [are] your judges, of whom you said, "Give to me a king and rulers?"

I gave you a king in my anger, and I took [him] in my wrath.

Should I redeem them from {the power} of Sheol? Should I deliver them from death? Where [are] your plagues, Death? Where [is] your destruction, Sheol? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Although he may flourish among reeds, [the] east wind will come, a wind of Yahweh rising from [the] desert; his fountain will dry up, his spring will be parched. It will plunder his treasury, every object of desire.

I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely because my anger has turned back from them.

{They will again dwell} in my shadow; they will grow grain and they will blossom like the plant vine; his fame [will be] like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim, {what have I to do} with idols? I myself have answered and looked after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; your fruit comes from me.