Hosea 11–12

THE LORD’S LOVE FOR ISRAEL

11When Israel was a child, I loved him,^p

and out of Egypt I called my son.^q

²Israel called to the Egyptians^r

even as Israel was leaving them.^A

They kept sacrificing to the Baals^s

and burning offerings to idols.^t

³It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,^u

taking them^B by the hand,^Cv

but they never knew that I healed them.^w

⁴I led them with human cords,

with ropes of love.^x

To them I was like one

who eases the yoke from their jaws;^y

I bent down to give them food.^z

⁵Israel will not return to the land of Egypt

and Assyria will be his king,^aa

because they refused to repent.^ab

⁶A sword will whirl through his cities;^ac

it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates,^Dad

because of their schemes.^ae

⁷My people are bent on turning from me.^af

Though they call to him on high,

he will not exalt them at all.

⁸How can I give you up, Ephraim?^ag

How can I surrender you, Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?^ah

How can I treat you like Zeboiim?^ai

I have had a change of heart;

my compassion is stirred!

⁹I will not vent the full fury of my anger;^aj

I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.^ak

For I am God and not man,

the Holy One among you;^al

I will not come in rage.^E

¹⁰They will follow the Lord;^am

he will roar like a lion.^an

When he roars,

his children will come trembling from the west.^ao

¹¹They will be roused like birds from Egypt

and like doves^ap from the land of Assyria.^aq

Then I will settle them in their homes.^ar

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹²Ephraim surrounds me with lies,^as

the house of Israel, with deceit.

Judah still wanders with God

and is faithful to the holy ones.^F

GOD’S CASE AGAINST JACOB’S HEIRS

12Ephraim chases^G the wind^at

and pursues the east wind.^au

He continually multiplies lies and violence.

He makes a covenant with Assyria,^av

and olive oil is carried to Egypt.^aw

²The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.

He is about to punish Jacob according to his conduct;^a

he will repay him based on his actions.

³In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,^b

and as an adult he wrestled with God.^c

⁴Jacob struggled with the angel and prevailed;

he wept and sought his favor.^d

He found him at Bethel,^e

and there he spoke with him.^Af

⁵The Lord is the God of Armies;

the Lord is his name.^g

⁶But you must return to your God.^h

Maintain love and justice,ⁱ

and always put your hope in God.^j

⁷A merchant loves to extort^k

with dishonest scales in his hands.^l

⁸But Ephraim thinks,

“How rich I have become;^m

I made it all myself.

In all my earnings,

no one can find any iniquity in meⁿ

that I can be punished for!”^B

JUDGMENT ON APOSTATE ISRAEL

⁹I have been the Lord your God

ever since^C the land of Egypt.^o

I will make you live in tents again,^p

as in the festival days.

¹⁰I will speak through the prophets^q

and grant many visions;

I will give parables through the prophets.^r

¹¹Since Gilead is full of evil,^s

they will certainly come to nothing.

They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;^t

even their altars will be like piles of rocks^u

on the furrows of a field.

FURTHER INDICTMENT OF JACOB’S HEIRS

¹²Jacob fled to the territory of Aram.^v

Israel worked to earn a wife;^w

he tended flocks for a wife.^x

¹³The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet,^y

and Israel was tended by a prophet.

¹⁴Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,^z

so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him^aa

and repay him for his contempt.^ab