Hosea 10–14

Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit ^aunto himself:

According to the multitude of his fruit ^bhe hath increased the altars;

According to the goodness of his land ^cthey have made goodly images.

²Their heart is divided; now shall they be ^dfound faulty:

He shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

³For now they shall say, ^eWe have no king,

Because we feared not the Lord;

What then should a king do to us?

⁴They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant:

Thus ^fjudgment springeth up as ^ghemlock ^hin the furrows of the field.

⁵The inhabitants of ⁱSamaria ^jshall fear because of ^kthe calves of ^lBeth-aven:

For the people thereof shall mourn over it,

And the priests thereof that rejoiced on it,

For ^mthe glory thereof, because ^mit is departed from it.

⁶ⁿIt shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to ^oking Jareb:

Ephraim shall receive shame,

And Israel ^jshall be ashamed of ^phis own counsel.

⁷As for ⁱSamaria, ^eher king is ^qcut off

As ^rthe foam upon the water.

⁸The high places also of ^lAven, ^sthe sin of Israel, shall be destroyed:

^tThe thorn and ^tthe thistle shall come up on their altars;

And ^uthey shall say to the mountains, Cover us;

And to the hills, Fall on us.

⁹O Israel, thou hast sinned ^vfrom the days of Gibeah: there they stood:

^wThe battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.

^10xIt is in my desire that I should chastise them;

And ^ythe people shall be gathered against them,

When they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.

¹¹And Ephraim is as ^za heifer that is taught, and loveth ^ato tread out the corn;

But ^zI passed over upon her fair neck:

I will make Ephraim to ride;

Judah shall plow,

And Jacob shall ^cbreak his clods.

^12dSow to yourselves in righteousness,

^dReap ^ein mercy;

^fBreak up your ^gfallow ground:

For it is time to seek the Lord,

Till he come and ^hrain righteousness upon you.

¹³ⁱYe have plowed wickedness, ^diye have reaped iniquity;

Ye have eaten the fruit of lies:

Because thou didst trust in thy way,

In the multitude of thy mighty men.

¹⁴Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people,

And ^jall thy fortresses ^kshall be spoiled,

As ^lShalman ^kspoiled ^mBeth-arbel in the day of battle:

ⁿThe mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.

¹⁵So shall ^oBeth-el do unto you because of your great wickedness;

In a morning ^pshall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.

XI.^aWhen Israel was a child, then ^bI loved him,

And ^ccalled ^dmy son out of Egypt.

²As ^ethey called them, so they went from them:

^fThey sacrificed unto Baalim, and ^fburnt incense to graven images.

^3gI taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms;

But they knew not that ^hI healed them.

⁴ⁱI drew them with cords ^kof a man, with bands of love:

And ^lI was to them ^kas they that take off the yoke on their jaws,

And ^mI laid meat unto them.

⁵ⁿHe shall not return into the land of Egypt,

But ^othe Assyrian shall be his king,

^pBecause they refused to return.

⁶And the sword shall ^qabide on his cities,

And shall consume his ^rbranches, and devour them,

^sBecause of their own counsels.

⁷And my people are bent ^tto backsliding from me:

^eThough they called them to ^uthe most High,

None at all would ^vexalt him.

^8wHow shall I give thee up, Ephraim?

How shall I deliver thee, Israel?

How shall I make thee as ^xyAdmah?

How shall I set thee as ^yZeboim?

Mine heart is turned ^zwithin me,

^aMy repentings ^bare kindled together.

⁹I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,

I will not return to destroy Ephraim:

^cFor I am God, and not man;

^dThe Holy One ^din the midst of thee:

And I will not enter into the city.

^10eThey shall walk after the Lord: ^fhe shall roar ^glike a lion:

When he shall roar, then the children shall tremble ^hfrom the west.

¹¹They shall tremble as a bird ⁱout of Egypt,

And ^jas a dove ^ikout of the land of Assyria:

And ^lI will place them in their houses, saith the Lord.

¹²Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit:

^mBut Judah yet ⁿruleth with God, and is faithful with ^othe saints.

XII.Ephraim ^afeedeth on wind, and followeth after ^bthe east wind:

He daily increaseth lies and ^cdesolation;

And ^dthey do make a covenant with the Assyrians,

And ^eoil is carried ^finto Egypt.

^2gThe Lord hath also a controversy with Judah,

And ^hwill punish Jacob according to his ways;

^hAccording to his doings ⁱwill he recompense him.

^3jHe took his brother by the heel in the womb,

And by his strength he ^khad power with God:

^4kYea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed:

^lHe wept, and made supplication unto him:

^mHe found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us;

⁵Even the Lord God of hosts; ⁿthe Lord is his memorial.

⁶Therefore ^oturn thou to thy God:

^pKeep mercy and judgment,

And ^qwait on thy God continually.

⁷He is a merchant, ^rthe balances of deceit are in his hand:

He loveth to oppress.

⁸And Ephraim said, Yet ^sI am become rich, I have found me out substance:

In all my labours ^vthey shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.

⁹And ^wI that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt

Will yet make thee ^xto dwell in tabernacles, ^xas in the days of the solemn feast.

^10yI have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied ^zvisions,

And used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets.

^11aIs there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity:

They sacrifice bullocks ^bin Gilgal;

Yea, ^ctheir altars are as heaps ^din the furrows of the fields.

¹²And ^eJacob fled into the country of Syria,

And Israel ^fserved for a wife, and for a wife he ⁱkept sheep.

¹³And ^gby a prophet ^hthe Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,

And ^gby a prophet was he ⁱpreserved.

¹⁴Ephraim ^kprovoked him to anger most bitterly:

Therefore ^lshall he leave his blood upon him,

And ^mhis reproach shall his Lord ⁿreturn unto him.

XIII.When Ephraim spake trembling, he ^aexalted himself in Israel;

But when he ^boffended ^cin Baal, he died.

²And now they sin more and more,

And ^dhave made them molten images of their silver,

And idols according to their own understanding,

^eAll of it the work of the craftsmen:

They say of them, Let the men that sacrifice ^fkiss the calves.

³Therefore they shall be ^ffas the morning cloud,

^ffAnd as the early dew that passeth away,

^gAs the chaff that is driven with a whirlwind out of the floor,

And ^has the smoke out of ⁱthe chimney.

⁴Yet ^klI am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt,

And thou shalt know no god but me:

For ^kmthere is no saviour ⁿbeside me.

^5oI did know thee in the wilderness,

^pIn the land of great drought.

^6qrAccording to their pasture, so were they filled;

^qThey were filled, and their heart was exalted;

Therefore ^qrhave they forgotten me.

⁷Therefore ^sI will be unto them as a lion:

As ^ta leopard by the way will I ^uobserve them:

⁸I will meet them as ^va bear that is bereaved of her whelps,

And will rent the caul of their heart,

And there will I devour them like a lion:

The wild beast shall tear them.

⁹O Israel, ^wthou hast destroyed thyself; but ^xin me is thine help.

¹⁰I will be thy king: ^xwhere is any other that may save thee in all thy cities?

And thy judges of whom ^zthou saidst, Give me a king and princes?

^11aI gave thee a king in mine anger,

And ^btook him away in my wrath.

¹²The iniquity of Ephraim is ^cbound up; his sin is hid.

^13dThe sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him:

He is an unwise son;

For he should not ^estay long in the place of ^fthe breaking forth of children.

¹⁴I ^ghwill ransom them from ⁱthe power of the grave;

^hI will redeem them from death:

^jO death, I will be thy plagues;

O grave, I will be thy ^kdestruction:

^lRepentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

¹⁵Though ^mhe be fruitful among his brethren,

ⁿAn east wind shall come, ^othe wind of the Lord shall come up ^pfrom the wilderness,

And his ^qspring ^rshall become dry, and his ^sfountain shall be dried up:

He shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.

^16ssSamaria ^tshall become desolate;

^uFor she hath rebelled against her God:

They shall fall by the sword:

^vwTheir infants shall be dashed in pieces,

And ^wxtheir women with child shall be ript up.

XIV.O Israel, ^areturn unto the Lord thy God;

For thou hast ^bfallen by thine iniquity.

²Take with you words, and ^aturn to the Lord:

Say unto him, ^cTake away all iniquity, and receive us graciously:

So ^dwill we render the calves of our lips.

^3eAsshur shall not save us: ^fwe will not ride upon horses:

^gNeither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods:

For ^hin thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

⁴ⁱI will heal ^iktheir backsliding, ^lI will love them ^mfreely:

For mine anger is turned away from him.

⁵I will be ⁿas the dew unto Israel:

He shall grow as ^othe lily,

^pqAnd cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

^6qHis branches shall spread,

And his ^rbeauty shall be ^sas the olive tree,

And ^this smell as Lebanon.

^7quThey that dwell under his shadow shall return;

They shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine:

The sent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

⁸Ephraim shall say, ^gvWhat have I to do any more with idols?

I have ^wheard him, and ^xobserved him:

^qsI am like a green fir tree.

^yFrom me is thy fruit found.

^9zWho is wise, and he shall understand these things?

Prudent, and he shall know them?

For ^athe ways of the Lord are ^bright,

And ^cthe just shall walk in them:

^cBut the transgressors shall ^dfall therein.