Hosea 11:12–14:9

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

13When Ephraim spoke,^ac there was trembling;

he was exalted in Israel.^ad

But he incurred guilt through Baal^ae and died.

²Now they continue to sin

and make themselves a cast image,^af

idols skillfully made from their silver,^ag

all of them the work of craftsmen.^ah

People say about them,

“Let the men who sacrifice^D kiss the calves.”^ai

³Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,^aj

like the early dew that vanishes,

like chaff blown from a threshing floor,^ak

or like smoke from a window.^al

DEATH AND RESURRECTION

⁴I have been the Lord your God^am

ever since^A the land of Egypt;

you know no God but me,^an

and no Savior exists besides me.^ao

⁵I knew^B you in the wilderness,^ap

in the land of drought.

⁶When they had pasture,

they became satisfied;^aq

they were satisfied,

and their hearts became proud.^ar

Therefore they forgot me.^as

⁷So I will be like a lion^at to them;

I will lurk like a leopard^au on the path.

⁸I will attack them

like a bear robbed of her cubs

and tear open the rib cage over their hearts.

I will devour them there like a lioness,^av

like a wild beast that would rip them open.

⁹I will destroy you, Israel;

you have no help but me.^Caw

¹⁰Where now is your king,^Dax

that he may save you in all your cities,

and the^E rulers^Fay you demanded, saying,

“Give me a king and leaders”?

¹¹I give you a king in my anger^az

and take away a king in my wrath.^a

¹²Ephraim’s guilt is preserved;

his sin is stored up.^b

¹³Labor pains come on him.^c

He is not a wise son;^d

when the time comes,

he will not be born.^Ge

¹⁴I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.

I will redeem^H them from death.^f

Death, where are your barbs?

Sheol, where is your sting?^g

Compassion is hidden from my eyes.^h

THE COMING JUDGMENT

¹⁵Although he flourishes among his brothers,^Ii

an east wind will come,^j

a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert.

His water source will fail,

and his spring will run dry.^k

The wind^J will plunder the treasury^l

of every precious item.

¹⁶Samaria^m will bear her guiltⁿ

because she has rebelled against her God.^o

They will fall by the sword;^p

their children will be dashed to pieces,^q

and their pregnant women ripped open.^r

A PLEA TO REPENT

14Israel, return to the Lord your God,^s

for you have stumbled in your iniquity.^t

²Take words of repentance with you^u

and return to the Lord.

Say to him, “Forgive all our iniquity

and accept what is good,

so that we may repay you

with praise^A from our^B lips.^v

³Assyria will not save us,^w

we will not ride on horses,^x

and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!’^y

to the work of our hands.^z

For the fatherless receives compassion in you.”^aa

A PROMISE OF RESTORATION

⁴I will heal their apostasy;^ab

I will freely love them,^ac

for my anger will have turned from him.^ad

⁵I will be like the dew to Israel;^ae

he will blossom like the lily^af

and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.^ag

⁶His new branches will spread,

and his splendor will be like the olive tree,^ah

his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.^ai

⁷The people will return and live beneath his shade.^aj

They will grow grain^ak

and blossom like the vine.

His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸Ephraim, why should I^C have anything more

to do with idols?^al

It is I who answer and watch over him.

I am like a flourishing pine tree;^am

your fruit comes from me.^an

⁹Let whoever is wise^ao understand these things,

and whoever is insightful recognize them.

For the ways of the Lord are right,^ap

and the righteous walk in them,^aq

but the rebellious stumble in them.^ar