Hosea 10–11

CHAPTER 10

You Have Sinned, O Israel

¹Israel is a ¹luxuriant ^avine;

He produces fruit for himself.

The more abundant his fruit,

The more altars he ^babounded;

The better his land,

The better ²he made the sacred ^cpillars.

²Their heart is ^1afaithless;

Now they must bear their ^bguilt.

²Yahweh will ^cbreak down their altars

And destroy their sacred pillars.

³Surely now they will say, “We have ^ano king,

For we do not fear Yahweh.

As for the king, what can he do for us?”

⁴They speak mere words;

¹With ^aworthless oaths they cut covenants;

And ^bjudgment flourishes like gall in the furrows of the field.

⁵The dweller of Samaria will fear

For the ^1acalf of ^bBeth-aven.

Indeed, its people will mourn for it,

And its ^cidolatrous priests ²will cry out over it,

Over its ^dglory, since it has gone into exile from them.

⁶The thing itself will be carried to ^aAssyria

As tribute to ^1bKing Jareb;

Ephraim will ^creceive shame,

And Israel will be ashamed of its ^down counsel.

⁷Samaria will be ^aruined with her king

Like a stick on the surface of the water.

⁸Also the ^ahigh places of Aven, the ^bsin of Israel, will be ¹eradicated;

^cThorn and thistle will grow on their altars;

Then they will ^dsay to the mountains,

“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹From the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;

There they stand!

Will not the battle against the sons of injustice overtake them in Gibeah?

¹⁰When it is My ^adesire, I will ^1bchastise them;

And ^cthe peoples will be gathered against them

When they are bound for their double guilt.

The Trained Heifer

¹¹And Ephraim is a trained ^aheifer that loves to thresh,

But I will ^bcome over her fair neck with a yoke;

I will harness Ephraim;

Judah will plow; Jacob will harrow for himself.

^12aSow with a view to righteousness,

Reap in accordance with lovingkindness;

^bBreak up your fallow ground,

Indeed, it is time to ^cseek Yahweh

Until He ^dcomes and ^1erains righteousness on you.

¹³You have ^aplowed wickedness; you have reaped injustice;

You have eaten the fruit of ^bdeception.

Because you have trusted in your way, in your ^cabundant warriors,

¹⁴Therefore a rumbling will arise among your people,

And all your ^afortifications will be destroyed,

As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,

When ^bmothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

¹⁵Thus it will be done to you at Bethel because of your evil of evils.

At dawn the king of Israel will be completely ruined.

CHAPTER 11

The Beloved Son

¹When Israel was a youth I loved him,

And ^aout of Egypt I ^bcalled My son.

²The more ^1athey called them,

The more they went from ²them;

They kept ^bsacrificing to the Baals

And ^cburning incense to graven images.

³Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk;

¹I ^atook them in My arms;

But they did not know that I ^bhealed them.

⁴I ^aled them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,

And ^bI became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;

And I bent down and ^cfed them.

⁵¹They will not return to the land of Egypt;

But Assyria—he will be ²their king

Because they ^arefused to return to Me.

⁶And the ^asword will whirl against ¹their cities

And will consume ²their gate bars

And ^bdevour them because of their ^ccounsels.

⁷So My people are hung up on ^aturning from Me.

Though ¹they call ²them to the One on high,

None at all exalts Him.

^8aHow can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I surrender you, O Israel?

How can I give you over to be like ^bAdmah?

How can I make you like ^cZeboiim?

My heart is turned over within Me;

¹All My compassions are stirred.

⁹I will ^anot execute My burning anger;

I will not make Ephraim a ruin ^bagain.

For ^cI am God and not man, the ^dHoly One in your midst,

And I will not come in ¹wrath.

¹⁰They will ^awalk after Yahweh;

He will ^broar like a lion;

Indeed, He will roar,

And His sons will come ^ctrembling from the west.

¹¹They will come trembling like birds from ^aEgypt

And like ^bdoves from the land of ^cAssyria;

And I will ^dsettle them in their houses, declares Yahweh.

¹²¹Ephraim surrounds Me with ^2alies

And the house of Israel with deceit;

And Judah is also unruly against God,

Even against the Holy One who is faithful.