Hosea 13:1–8

1  When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel: but he trespassed through Baal, and he died. 2  And 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. 3  Therefore 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. 4  Yet 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.

5  I knew thee in the wilderness, in the land of drought. 6  According to their pasture, they became full; they became full, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me. 7  And I will be unto them as a lion; as a leopard I will lurk for them by the way; 8  I 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.