I will punish her for the days of [her idols],
when she offered incense to them
and decked herself with her ring and jewelery,
and went after her lovers,
and forgot me [and did not know me], says the Lord.

Therefore, I will now allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
From there I will give her her vineyards,
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she shall respond as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, "my husband," and no longer will
you call me, "my [master], Baal." I will remove the name of the baals [and idols] from her
mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. I will make for you a
covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping
things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land;
and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will take you as my wife forever;
I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in
mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.
On that day I will answer, says the Lord,
I will answer the heavens
and they shall answer the earth;
and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer [God sows];
and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have pity on [those who are not pitied],
and I will say to [those who are not my people], "You are my people";
and they shall say "You are my God!"

Hosea 2:13-23

God continues loving us and never leaves us even though we may stray from or betray Him. He allows us to leave even though He knows what dangers lie in store and what horrid things will happen, because he loves us enough to let us choose. When we are broken and come home He loves us enough to forgive us to the greatest measure imaginable. Then after all of this, and especially when we sit alone in the dark, empty, licking our wounds, he tenderly speaks to us and through His perpetual love shines His soothing light, asking us to relent to Him the bitter torment. Our punishment is over when we commit to him the pain and then return His passion, it is then that He shows us the beauty that will come from the wounds instead of the scars. We are no longer defined by those things that made us empty or by the scars that made us ugly. Through Him we know who we are and in His arms we are beautiful. He makes eternal vows to us in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion, and in faithfullness, and through these we do know and love him.