Hosea 11–14

God Will Have Compassion

11When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.

²When I called^a them, they went from my face.^b

They sacrificed to the Baals, and they sacrificed to idols.

³And I myself taught Ephraim to walk;

I took them^c in my^d arms,

but they did not know that I healed them.

⁴I drew them with human ties,^e

with the bands of love.

I was to them like one who lifted up^f a yoke on their jaws,^g

though I bent down to them^h and let themⁱ eat.

⁵He will return^j to the land of Egypt,

and Assyria will be his king,^k

because they refused to return.

⁶The sword rages in his cities;

it consumes his false prophets

and devours because of their plans.

⁷My people are bent on backsliding from me.

To the Most High they call,

he does not raise them at all.

⁸How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

My heart is disturbed^l within me;

all^m my compassions are aroused.

⁹I will not executeⁿ my fierce anger,^o

I will not again destroy Ephraim;

because I am God

and not a mortal,^p

the Holy One in your midst;

and I will not come in wrath.

¹⁰They will go after Yahweh;

he roars like a lion.

When he roars,

his children will come trembling

from the sea.^q

¹¹They will tremble like birds^r from Egypt,

and like doves^s from the land of Assyria;

and I will let them return^t to their homes—

a declaration of Yahweh.

Israel’s History

^12u Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,^v

and the house of Israel with deceit;

and Judah is still wandering with God

and is faithful to the Holy One.

12Ephraim herds the wind^a

and is pursuing the east wind all day long;

he multiplies deception and violence

and he^b makes a treaty with Assyria,^c

and oil is brought to Egypt.

²Yahweh has a quarrel^d with Judah

and will punish Jacob according to his ways

and repay him according to his deeds.

³In the womb he deceived his brother,

and in his manhood he struggled with God.

⁴He struggled with the angel and prevailed;

he pleaded for his mercy.

He met him at Bethel,

and there he spoke with him.^e

⁵Yahweh the God of hosts,

Yahweh is his renowned name!

⁶But you, you must return to your God;

keep love and justice,

and wait continually for your God.

⁷The trader, in his hand are scales of deceit;^f

he loves to oppress.

⁸And Ephraim said, “Surely, I am rich,

I gained^g wealth for myself;

in all my toil they have not found guilt in me

that is sin.

⁹But I am Yahweh your God

since^h the land of Egypt;

I will make you live in tents again,

like the days of the appointed festival.

¹⁰I spoke to the prophets;

I myself multiplied revelationsⁱ

and through the hand of the prophets I will destroy.

¹¹If in Gilead there is evil,

surely they will come to nothing.

In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,

also their altars will be like stone heaps

on furrows of the field.

¹²Jacob fled to the open field of Aram,^j

and Israel served for a wife,

and for a wife he watched over sheep.

¹³And by a prophet Yahweh brought

Israel up from Egypt,

and by a prophet

he^k was watched over.

¹⁴Ephraim has caused bitter provocation,

and his Lord will hold him responsible for his crimes^l

and pay back to him his insults.

Yahweh’s Judgment on Idolatrous Israel

13When Ephraim spoke,^a there was terror;

he was exalted in Israel,

but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.

²And now they sin again,

and they make for themselves a molten idol,

idols from their silver metal according to their understanding,

all of them the work of skilled craftsmen.

To these they say, “Sacrifice!”

People are kissing bull calves.

³Therefore, they will be like the morning cloud,

and like the dew of early morning going away,

like chaff swirling from the threshing floor,

or like smoke from a window.

⁴I am Yahweh your God

since^b the land of Egypt;

you know no god except me,

and no one saves besides me.

⁵I fed you^c in the desert,

in the land of drought.

⁶When I fed them,^d they were satisfied;

they were satisfied and their heart was lifted up;

therefore they forgot me.

⁷And I will be like a lion to them;

I lie in wait beside the way, like a leopard.

⁸I will attack them like a bear robbed of her offspring,

and I will tear open the covering of their heart;

there I will devour them like a lion,

like an animal of the field would mutilate them.

⁹I will destroy you,^e O Israel;

who will help you?^f

¹⁰Where now is your king that he may save you?

Where in all your cities are your judges,

of whom you said, “Give to

me a king and rulers?”

¹¹I gave you a king in my anger,

and I took him in my wrath.

¹²The sin of Ephraim is wrapped up;

his sin is concealed.

¹³The labor pains of childbirth come for him;

he is an unwise son

because at the proper time, he does not present himself

at the mouth of the womb.^g

¹⁴Should I redeem them from the power^h of Sheol? ⁱ

Should I deliver them from death?

Where are your plagues, O Death?

Where is your destruction, O Sheol?^j

Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵Although he may flourish among reeds,^k

the east wind will come, a wind of Yahweh

rising from the desert;

his fountain will dry up,

his spring will be parched.

It will plunder his treasury,^l

every object of desire.

^16m Samaria will be guilty,

because she has rebelled against her God;

they will fall by the sword,

their children will be dashed to pieces,

and their pregnant women will be ripped open.

Return to Yahweh

14Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel,

for you have stumbled because of your sin.

²Take words with you,

and return to Yahweh.

Say to him,

“Take away all guilt;

accept good, and we will offer

the fruit^a of our lips.

³Assyria will not save us;

we will not ride on horses,^b

and we will say no more, “Our God,”

to the work of our hands

because in you the fatherless child finds mercy.

⁴I will heal their disloyalty;^c

I will love them freely

because my anger has turned back

from them.^d

⁵I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like the lily plant,

and he will strike his roots like the trees of Lebanon.

⁶His new plant shoots will spread out;

his splendor will be like the olive tree,

and his scent like the trees of Lebanon.

⁷They will again dwell^e in my^f shadow;

they will grow grain

and they will blossom like the plant vine;

his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸O Ephraim, what have I to do^g with idols?

I myself have answered and looked after you.^h

I am like a luxuriant cypress;

your fruitⁱ comes from me.

⁹Who is wise that he can understand these things?

Who is discerning that he knows them?

The ways of Yahweh are right,

and the righteous walk in them;

but transgressors stumble in them.