A reading from
the Book of the Prophet Hosea 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22
Thus says the Lord:/ I will allure her;/ I will lead her into the desert/ and speak to her heart./ She shall respond there as in the days of her youth,/ when she came up from the land of Egypt.
On that day, says the Lord,/ She shall call me “My husband,”/ and never again “My baal.”
I will espouse you to me forever:/ I will espouse you in right and in justice,/ in love and in mercy;/ I will espouse you in fidelity,/ and you shall know the Lord.
The word of the Lord.
