| New King James Version | English Standard Version |
| 1Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ And to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’ | 1Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.” |
| 2“Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts; | 2“Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; |
| 3Lest I strip her naked And expose her, as in the day she was born, And make her like a wilderness, And set her like a dry land, And slay her with thirst. | 3lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and kill her with thirst. |
| 4“I will not have mercy on her children, For they are the children of harlotry. | 4Upon her children also I will have no mercy, because they are children of whoredom. |
| 5For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.’ | 5For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ |
| 6“Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And wall her in, So that she cannot find her paths. | 6Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. |
| 7She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.’ | 7She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ |
| 8For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold— Which they prepared for Baal. | 8And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. |
| 9“Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time And My new wine in its season, And will take back My wool and My linen, Given to cover her nakedness. | 9Therefore I will take back 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. |
| 10Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, And no one shall deliver her from My hand. | 10Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. |
| 11I will also cause all her mirth to cease, Her feast days, Her New Moons, Her Sabbaths— All her appointed feasts. | 11And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. |
| 12“And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, Of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field shall eat them. | 12And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them. |
| 13I will punish her For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, And went after her lovers; But Me she forgot,” says the LORD. | 13And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD. |
| 14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her. | 14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. |
| 15I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. | 15And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. |
| 16“And it shall be, in that day,” Says the LORD, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ | 16“And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ |
| 17For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more. | 17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. |
| 18In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely. | 18And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. |
| 19“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; | 19And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. |
| 20I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD. | 20I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. |
| 21“It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer,” says the LORD; “I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth. | 21“And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, |
| 22The earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil; They shall answer Jezreel. | 22and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, |
| 23Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ” | 23and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
|
