God

Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.

She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband, for then I was better off than now.’

For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold— which they crafted for Baal.

Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.

And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.

I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her appointed feasts.

I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers. So I will make them into a thicket, and the beasts of the field will devour them.

I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.

There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’

For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.

On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.

So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.

And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”

“On that day I will respond—” declares the LORD— “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth.

And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

Then the LORD said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and offer raisin cakes to idols.”

Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.

Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!

You will stumble by day, and the prophet will stumble with you by night; so I will destroy your mother—

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; they exchanged their Glory for a thing of disgrace.

They feed on the sins of My people and set their hearts on iniquity.

And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.