Hosea 7

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