Hosea 12:1–13:16

Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he continually multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt. ²Jehovah hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. ³In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God: ⁴yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us, ⁵even Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial name. ⁶Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep kindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually.

⁷He is a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress. ⁸And Ephraim said, Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin. ⁹But I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. ¹⁰I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes. ¹¹Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field. ¹²And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. ¹³And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. ¹⁴Ephraim hath provoked to anger most bitterly: therefore shall his blood be left upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

13When Ephraim spake, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. ²And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. ³Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that passeth early away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

⁴Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt know no god but me, and besides me there is no saviour. ⁵I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. ⁶According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me. ⁷Therefore am I unto them as a lion; as a leopard will I watch by the way; ⁸I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart; and there will I devour them like a lioness; the wild beast shall tear them.

⁹It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against me, against thy help. ¹⁰Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? ¹¹I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath. ¹²The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid up in store. ¹³The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children. ¹⁴I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction? repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

¹⁵Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the breath of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness; and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall make spoil of the treasure of all goodly vessels. ¹⁶Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.