Hosea 7–8

7¹when I heal Israel, ^u

the sins of Ephraim ^vand the crimes of Samaria ^w

will be exposed.

For they practice fraud; ^x

a thief breaks in;

a raiding party pillages outside. ^y

²But they never consider that I remember all their evil. ^z

Now their sins are all around them; ^a

they are right in front of My face.

Israel’s Corruption

³They please the king with their evil, ^b

the princes with their lies. ^c

⁴All of them commit adultery; ^d

they are like an oven heated by a baker

who stops stirring the fire

from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

⁵On the day of our king,

the princes are sick with the heat of wine ^e—

there is a conspiracy with traitors. ^f

⁶For they—their hearts like an oven—

draw him into their oven.

Their anger smolders all night;

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

⁷All of them are as hot as an oven, ^g

and they consume their rulers. ^h

All their kings fall;

not one of them calls on Me. ⁱ

⁸Ephraim has allowed himself to get mixed up with the nations.

Ephraim is unturned bread baked on a griddle.

⁹Foreigners consume his strength, ^j

but he does not notice. ^k

Even his hair is streaked with gray,

but he does not notice.

¹⁰Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, ^lm

yet they do not return to Yahweh their God, ⁿ

and for all this, they do not seek Him.

¹¹So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove; ^o

they call to Egypt, ^pand they go to Assyria. ^q

¹²As they are going, I will spread My net over them; ^r

I will bring them down like birds of the sky.

I will discipline them in accordance

with the news that reaches ^stheir assembly.

The Lord’s Second Lament

¹³Woe to them, ^tfor they fled from Me; ^u

destruction to them, for they rebelled against Me!

Though I want to redeem them, ^v

they speak lies against Me.

¹⁴They do not cry to Me from their hearts;

rather, they wail on their beds.

They slash themselves ^wxfor grain and new wine; ^y

they turn away from Me.

¹⁵I trained and strengthened their arms, ^z

but they plot evil against Me. ^a

¹⁶They turn, but not to what is above; ^b

they are like a faulty bow. ^c

Their leaders will fall by the sword

because of the cursing of their tongue. ^d

They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt. ^e

Israel’s False Hopes

8Put the horn to your mouth! ^f

One like an eagle comes

against the house of the Lord, ^g

because they transgress My covenant ^h

and rebel against My law. ⁱ

²Israel cries out to Me, ^j

“My God, we know You!”

³Israel has rejected what is good; ^k

an enemy will pursue him.

⁴They have installed kings, ^l

but not through Me.

They have appointed leaders,

but without My approval.

They make their silver and gold ^m

into idols for themselves

for their own destruction. ⁿ

⁵Your calf-idol ^opis rejected, Samaria. ^q

My anger burns against them.

How long will they be incapable of innocence? ^r

⁶For this thing is from Israel—

a craftsman made it, ^sand it is not God.

The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!

⁷Indeed, they sow the wind ^t

and reap the whirlwind. ^u

There is no standing grain;

what sprouts fails to yield flour. ^v

Even if they did,

foreigners would swallow it up.

⁸Israel is swallowed up! ^w

Now they are among the nations

like discarded pottery. ^x

⁹For they have gone up to Assyria ^y

like a wild donkey going off on its own.

Ephraim has paid for love. ^z

¹⁰Even though they hire lovers among the nations,

I will now round them up,

and they will begin to decrease in number ^a

under the burden of the king and leaders. ^b

¹¹When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin, ^c

they became his altars for sinning.

¹²Though I were to write out for him

ten thousand points of My instruction, ^d

they would be ^eregarded as something strange.

¹³Though they offer sacrificial gifts ^fg

and eat the flesh, ^h

the Lord does not accept them.

Now He will remember their guilt ⁱ

and punish their sins; ^j

they will return to Egypt. ^k

¹⁴Israel has forgotten his Maker ^land built palaces; ^m

Judah has also multiplied fortified cities.

I will send fire on their cities, ⁿ

and it will consume their citadels.