Very soon they will say, “We have no king since we did not fear the Lord. But what can a king do for us anyway?”

Then I will plant her as my own ¹  in the land. I will have pity on ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah). I will say to ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), ‘You are my people!’ And he ²  will say, ‘You are ³  my God!’”

Return to the Lord and repent! ¹  Say to him: “Completely ²  forgive our iniquity; accept ³  our penitential prayer, ⁴  that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls. ⁵ 

Assyria cannot save us; we will not ride warhorses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made. For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!” ¹ 

“I will punish her for the festival days when she burned incense to the Baal idols; ¹  she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but ²  she forgot me!” ³  says the Lord.

The high places of the “House ¹  of Wickedness” ²  will be destroyed; it is the place where Israel sins. Thorns and thistles will grow up over its altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch ¹  them; she will seek them, but she will not find them. ²  Then she will say, “I will go back ³  to my husband, ⁴  because I was better off then than I am now.” ⁵ 

Where ¹  then is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are ²  your rulers for whom you asked, saying, “Give me a king and princes”?

Even now they persist in sin! ¹  They make metal images for themselves, idols that they skillfully fashion ²  from their own silver; all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen! There is a saying about them: ³  “Those who sacrifice ⁴  to the calf idol are calf kissers!” ⁵ 

Then you will call ¹  your ²  brother, “My People” (Ammi)! You will call your sister, “Pity” (Ruhamah)!

“At that time,” ¹  declares the Lord, “you will call, ²  ‘My husband’; ³  you will never again call me, ⁴  ‘My master.’ ⁵ 

“At that time, ¹  I will willingly respond,” ²  declares the Lord. “I will respond to the sky, and the sky ³  will respond to the ground;

They will return in fear and trembling ¹  like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria, and I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord.

They do not realize ¹  that I remember all of their wicked deeds. Their evil deeds have now surrounded them; their sinful deeds are always before me. ² 

O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do ¹  with idols anymore! I will answer him and care for him. I am like ²  a luxuriant cypress tree; ³  your fruitfulness comes from me! ⁴ 

Although you, O Israel, commit adultery, do not let Judah become guilty! Do not journey to Gilgal! Do not go up to Beth Aven! ¹  Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”

Because of all their evil in Gilgal, I hate them there. On account of their evil deeds, I will drive them out of my land. ¹  I will no longer love them; all their rulers are rebels.

However, in the future I will allure her; ¹  I will lead ²  her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

For ¹  I will remove the names of the Baal idols ²  from your lips, ³  so that you will never again utter their names!” ⁴ 

O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol! My anger burns against them! They will not survive much longer without being punished, ¹  even though they are Israelites!