American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
For of old time {Or, thou hast}I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds; and thou saidst, I will not {Another reading is, transgress.}serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.
{Hebrew: Saying.}They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, will he return unto her again? will not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; {Or, and thinkest thou to return &c?}yet return again to me, saith Jehovah.
Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah.
Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings.Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God.
Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
Then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder sisters and thy younger; and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah;
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak {Hebrew: to her heart.}comfortably unto her.
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of {That is, Troubling.}Achor for a door of hope; and she {Or, sing}shall make answer there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
And it shall be at that day, saith Jehovah, that thou shalt call me {That is, My husband.}Ishi, and shalt call me no more {That is, My master.}Baali.
For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be {Or, remembered}mentioned by their name.
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely.
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know Jehovah.
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will answer, saith Jehovah, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth;
and the earth shall answer the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall answer {Or, That is, Whom God soweth.}Jezreel.
And I will sow her unto me in the {Or, land}earth; and I will have mercy upon {Hebrew: Lo-ruhamah. See chapter 1:6.}her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to {Hebrew: Lo-ammi. See chapter 1:9, 10.}them that were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye {Hebrew: to the heart of.}comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her {Or, time of service}warfare is accomplished, that her {Or, punishment is accepted See Leviticus 26:43.}iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.
Go ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
For thus saith Jehovah: Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill-country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith Jehovah.
And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
Thus saith Jehovah: Yet again there shall be heard in this place, whereof ye say, It is waste, without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast,
the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say, Give thanks to Jehovah of hosts, for Jehovah is good, for his lovingkindness endureth for ever; and of them that bring sacrifices of thanksgiving into the house of Jehovah. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, saith Jehovah.
{Or, Praise his people, ye nations}Rejoice, O {Or, ye nations, his people}ye nations, with his people:For he will avenge the blood of his servants,And will render vengeance to his adversaries,And will make expiation for his land, for his people.
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will answer, saith Jehovah, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth;
and the earth shall answer the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall answer {Or, That is, Whom God soweth.}Jezreel.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm. A Song of David. {Or, There shall be silence before thee, and praise, O God &c.}Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion;And unto thee shall the vow be performed.
O thou that hearest prayer,Unto thee shall all flesh come.
{Hebrew: Words (or, Matters) of iniquities.}Iniquities prevail against me:As for our transgressions, thou wilt {Or, expiate}forgive them.
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee,That he may dwell in thy courts:We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house,Thy holy temple.
By terrible things thou wilt answer us in righteousness,O God of our salvation,Thou that art the confidence of all the ends of the earth,And {Or, of the sea, afar off}of them that are afar off upon the sea:
Who by his strength setteth fast the mountains,Being girded about with might;
Who stilleth the roaring of the seas,The roaring of their waves,And the tumult of the peoples.
They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens:Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.
Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it,Thou greatly enrichest it;The river of God is full of water:Thou providest them grain, {Or, for so preparest thou}when thou hast so prepared {Hebrew: it.}the earth.
Thou waterest its furrows abundantly;Thou {Hebrew: lowerest.}settlest the ridges thereof:Thou makest it soft with showers;Thou blessest the springing thereof.
Thou crownest {Hebrew: the year of thy goodness.}the year with thy goodness;And thy paths drop fatness.
{Or, The pastures…do drop}They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness;And the hills are girded with joy.
The pastures are clothed with flocks;The valleys also are covered over with grain;They shout for joy, they also sing.
Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it,Thou greatly enrichest it;The river of God is full of water:Thou providest them grain, {Or, for so preparest thou}when thou hast so prepared {Hebrew: it.}the earth.
Thou waterest its furrows abundantly;Thou {Hebrew: lowerest.}settlest the ridges thereof:Thou makest it soft with showers;Thou blessest the springing thereof.
Thou crownest {Hebrew: the year of thy goodness.}the year with thy goodness;And thy paths drop fatness.
{Or, The pastures…do drop}They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness;And the hills are girded with joy.
The pastures are clothed with flocks;The valleys also are covered over with grain;They shout for joy, they also sing.
Thus saith Jehovah: If my covenant of day and night stand not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will {Or, return to their captivity}cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.