Study Desk

"Dispute with your mother, ^(C1)dispute, Because she is ^(C2)not my wife, and I am not her husband; But she must remove her ^(C3)infidelity from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,

Otherwise, I will strip her ^(C1)naked And expose her as on the ^(C2)day she was born. I will also ^(C3)make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land, And put her to death with ^(C4)thirst.

-"Also, I will take no pity on her children, Because they are ^(C1)children of infidelity.

-"For their mother has ^(C1)committed prostitution; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, '^(C1)I will go after my lovers, Who ^(C2)give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my ^(C3)oil and my drink.'

-"Therefore, behold, I will ^(C1)obstruct ^(F1)her way with ^(C2)thorns, And I will build ^(F2)a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her ^(C3)paths.

-"And she will ^(C1)pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, '^(C2)I will go back to my ^(C3)first husband, Because it was ^(C4)better for me then than now!'

"Yet she does ^(C1)not know that it was ^(C2)I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they ^(F1)used for Baal.

-"Therefore, I will ^(F1)(C1)take back My grain at ^(F2)harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax That I gave to cover her nakedness.

-"So now I will ^(C1)uncover her ^(F1)lewdness Before the eyes of her lovers, And no one will rescue her from My hand.

-"I will also ^(C1)put an end to all her joy, Her ^(C2)feasts, her ^(C3)new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festivals.

-"And I will ^(C1)destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, 'They are my wages for prostitution Which my lovers have given me.' And I will ^(C2)turn them into a forest, And the ^(C3)animals of the field will devour them.

-"I will punish her for the ^(C1)days of the Baals When she used to ^(F1)(C2)offer sacrifices to them And ^(C3)adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she ^(C4)forgot Me," declares the LORD.

"Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her, ^(C1)Bring her into the wilderness, And speak ^(F1)kindly to her.

-"Then I will give her her ^(C1)vineyards from there, And ^(C2)the ^(F1)Valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will ^(F2)(C3)respond there as in the days of her youth, As in the ^(C4)day when she went up from the land of Egypt.

-"And it will come about on that day," declares the LORD, "That you will call Me ^(F1)(C1)my husband And no longer call Me my ^(F2)Baal.

-"For ^(C1)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will no longer be ^(F1)mentioned by their names.

-"On that day I will also make a covenant for them With the ^(C1)animals of the field, The birds of the sky, And the crawling things of the ground. And I will ^(F1)(C2)eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And will let them ^(C3)lie down in safety.

-"I will ^(C1)betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in ^(C2)righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion,

And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will ^(C1)know the LORD.

"And it will come about on that day that ^(C1)I will respond," declares the LORD. "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,

And the ^(C1)earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, And they will respond to ^(F1)Jezreel.

-"I will ^(C1)sow her for Myself in the land. ^(C2)I will also have compassion on ^(F1)her who had not obtained compassion, And ^(C3)I will say to ^(F2)those who were ^(C4)not My people, 'You are My people!' And ^(F3)they will say, 'You are my God!'"