Study Desk

"Contend with your mother, ^(a)contend, For she is ^(b)not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her ^(c)harlotry from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,

Or I will strip her ^(d)naked And expose her as on the ^(e)day when she was born. I will also ^(f)make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land And slay her with ^(g)thirst.

"Also, I will have no compassion on her children, Because they are ^(h)children of harlotry.

"For their mother has ⁽ⁱ⁾played the harlot; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘^(j)I will go after my lovers, Who ^(k)give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my ^(l)oil and my drink.'

"Therefore, behold, I will ^(m)hedge up ^[d]her way with ⁽ⁿ⁾thorns, And I will build ^[e]a wall against her so that she cannot find her ^(o)paths.

"She will ^(p)pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘^(q)I will go back to my ^(r)first husband, For it was ^(s)better for me then than now!'

"For she does ^(t)not know that it was ^(u)I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they ^[f]used for Baal.

"Therefore, I will ^(v)take back My grain at ^[g]harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax Given to cover her nakedness.

"And then I will ^(w)uncover her lewdness In the sight of her lovers, And no one will rescue her out of My hand.

"I will also ^(x)put an end to all her gaiety, Her ^(y)feasts, her ^(z)new moons, her sabbaths And all her festal assemblies.

"I will ^(aa)destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘These are my wages Which my lovers have given me.' And I will ^(ab)make them a forest, And the ^(ac)beasts of the field will devour them.

"I will punish her for the ^(ad)days of the Baals When she used to ^[h](ae)offer sacrifices to them And ^(af)adorn herself with her ^[i]earrings and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she ^(ag)forgot Me," declares the Lord .

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, ^(ah)Bring her into the wilderness And speak ^[j]kindly to her.

"Then I will give her her ^(ai)vineyards from there, And ^(aj)the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will ^[k](ak)sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the ^(al)day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

"It will come about in that day," declares the Lord , "That you will call Me ^[l](am)Ishi And will no longer call Me ^[m]Baali.

"For ^(an)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will be ^[n]mentioned by their names no more.

"In that day I will also make a covenant for them With the ^(ao)beasts of the field, The birds of the sky And the creeping things of the ground. And I will ^[o](ap)abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, And will make them ^(aq)lie down in safety.

"I will ^(ar)betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in ^(as)righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion,

And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will ^(at)know the Lord .

"It will come about in that day that ^(au)I will respond," declares the Lord . "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,

And the ^(av)earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil, And they will respond to ^[p]Jezreel.

"I will ^(aw)sow her for Myself in the land. ^(ax)I will also have compassion on ^[q]her who had not obtained compassion, And ^(ay)I will say to ^[r]those who were ^(az)not My people, ‘You are My people!' And ^[s]they will say, ‘You are my God!'"