2:12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
about which she said, “These are my wages for prostitution 1
that my lovers gave to me!”
I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees 2 into an uncultivated thicket,
so that wild animals 3 will devour them.
2:15 From there I will give back her vineyards to her,
and turn the “Valley of Trouble” 4 into an “Opportunity 5 for Hope.”
There she will sing as she did when she was young, 6
when 7 she came up from the land of Egypt.
9:4 They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord;
they will not please him with their sacrifices.
Their sacrifices will be like bread eaten while in mourning;
all those who eat them will make themselves ritually unclean.
For their bread will be only to satisfy their appetite;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.
1 tn Heb “my wages.” The words “for prostitution” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied for clarity; cf. CEV “gave…as payment for sex.”
2 tn Heb “I will turn them”; the referents (vines and fig trees) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so KJV, NASB); the same expression also occurs in v. 18).
4 tn Heb “Valley of Achor,” so named because of the unfortunate incident recorded in Josh 7:1-26 (the name is explained in v. 26; the Hebrew term Achor means “disaster” or “trouble”). Cf. TEV, CEV “Trouble Valley.”
5 tn Heb “door” or “doorway”; cf. NLT “gateway.” Unlike the days of Joshua, when Achan’s sin jeopardized Israel’s mission and cast a dark shadow over the nation, Israel’s future return to the land will be marked by renewed hope.
6 tn Heb “as in the days of her youth” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
7 tn Heb “as in the day when” (so KJV, NASB).