Hosea 12:1–13:16

¹Ephraim feedeth on wind, and pursueth after the east wind: all day long he 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 he will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. ³He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he wrestled with God. ⁴Yea, he wrestled with the Angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us, ⁵—even Jehovah, the God of hosts, —Jehovah is his memorial. ⁶And thou, return unto thy God: keep loving-kindness and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

⁷He is a merchant, balances of deceit are in his hand; he loveth to oppress. ⁸And Ephraim saith, Nevertheless I am become rich, I have found me out substance; in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin. ⁹But I that am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt will again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. ¹⁰And I have spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and by means of the prophets have I used similitudes. ¹¹If Gilead is iniquity, surely they are but vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields. ¹²And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. ¹³And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. ¹⁴Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly; and his Lord shall leave his blood upon him, and recompense unto him his reproach.

Chapter 13

¹When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel: but he trespassed through Baal, and he died. ²And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, idols according to their own understanding, all of it 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 early dew that passeth away, as the chaff driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the lattice. ⁴Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou hast known no God but me; and there is no saviour besides me.

⁵I knew thee in the wilderness, in the land of drought. ⁶According to their pasture, they became full; they became full, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me. ⁷And I will be unto them as a lion; as a leopard I will lurk for them by the way; ⁸I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the covering of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lioness: the beast of the field shall tear them.

⁹It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against me, against thy help. ¹⁰Where then 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 gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. ¹²The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid by in store. ¹³The pangs of a woman in travail shall come upon him: he is a son not wise; for at the time of the breaking forth of children, he was not there. ¹⁴I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death: where, O death, are thy plagues? where, O Sheol, is thy destruction? Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. ¹⁵Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, a wind of Jehovah that cometh up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant 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.