The Wages of the Harlot

1They say, “If a man divorces his wife,

and she goes from him and becomes another man’s,

can he return to her again?

Shall not that land be completely defiled?

And you have played the harlot with many lovers,

and yet return to Me?”

A declaration of YHWH.

2“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see;

where have you not been violated?

Along the pathway you have sat for them,

like an Arabian in the desert,

and you have defiled the land

with your prostitution and with your evil.

3And the showers have been withheld,

and the spring rain has not come;

and yet you had a whorish woman’s forehead;

you refuse to be ashamed.

4Have you not from now called out to Me,

‘My Father, You are the companion of my youth?

5‘Will He keep it forever,

or will He keep it to the end?’

Behold, you have spoken,

and have done the evils as you could.”

Judah Follows Israel’s Example

6And YHWH said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there. 7And I said, after her doing all these things, she will return to Me. And she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

8And she saw† that, in spite of all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had sent her away, and had given a writ of divorce to her, and her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, and she went and also she prostituted herself. 9And it came to pass from the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, that she even defiled the land, and she committed adultery with stones and with trees! 10Yet in all this, her treacherous sister Judah has not turned back to Me with all her heart, but only falsely,” a declaration of YHWH.

A Call to Repentance
(Hosea 14:1–3; Zechariah 1:1–6)

11And YHWH said to me, “Backsliding Israel has proven herself more righteous than treacheous Judah. 12Go and proclaim these words to the north, and say:

‘Return, O backsliding Israel!’ A declaration of YHWH.

‘I will not cause My face to fall on you⁺,

for I am merciful,’ a declaration of YHWH.

‘I will not keep it forever.

13Only acknowledge your iniquity,

that against YHWH your God you have transgressed,

and you have scattered your ways to strangers

under every green tree,

and you⁺ have not listened to My voice!’”

A declaration of YHWH.

14“Return, backsliding sons!” A declaration of YHWH. “For I am married to you⁺, and I will take you⁺ one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you⁺ to Zion. 15And I will give to you⁺ shepherds according to My heart, and they will shepherd you⁺ with knowledge and understanding.”

16“And it will come to pass, when you⁺ have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days,” says YHWH, “That they will not say anymore, ‘The ark of the covenant of YHWH, and it shall not come upon the heart, and they will not remember it, and they will not attend to it—and another will not be made.

17At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘Throne of YHWH,’ and all the nations will be gathered to her, to the name of YHWH, to Jerusalem, and they will not go anymore after the stubborness of their evil hearts. 18In those days the house of Judah will walk alongside the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your⁺ fathers.

19and I said, ‘How I would set you among the sons

and give to you a pleasant land,

the most beautiful heritage

of the beauty of the nations!’

And I said, ‘You will call Me My Father,

and from Me not turn away.

20As surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband,

so have you⁺ dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel!”

A declaration of YHWH.

21A voice on the barren heights is heard,

the weeping and pleadings of the sons of Israel.

For they have perverted their way;

they have forgotten YHWH their God.

22“Return, O backsliding sons,

I will heal your⁺ backsliding.”

“Behold, we do come to You,

for You are YHWH our God.

23Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,

And from the multitude of mountains!

Truly in YHWH our God

is the salvation of Israel.

24And the shame has devoured

the labor of our fathers from our youth—

their flocks and their herds,

their sons and their daughters.

25Let us lie down and let our shame,

and let our disgrace cover us;

for we have sinned against YHWH our God,

we and our fathers,

from our youth and to this day,

and we have not listened to the voice of YHWH our God.