Hosea 12:1–14:9

¹¹Ephraim feeds on ^awind

And pursues the ^beast wind continually;

He abounds in falsehood and destruction.

Moreover, ²he cuts a covenant with Assyria,

And oil is carried to Egypt.

Yahweh’s Contention with Judah

²And Yahweh has a ^acontention with Judah

And will punish Jacob ^baccording to his ways;

He will cause everything to return to him according to his deeds.

³In the womb he ^atook his brother by the heel,

And in his maturity he ^1bwrestled with God.

⁴Indeed, he ¹wrestled with the angel and prevailed;

He wept and ^asought His favor.

He found Him at ^bBethel,

And there He spoke with us,

⁵Even Yahweh, the God of hosts,

Yahweh is His ^1aname of remembrance.

⁶Therefore, ^areturn to your God,

^bKeep lovingkindness and justice,

And ^chope in your God continually.

⁷A ¹merchant, in whose hands are deceptive ^abalances,

He loves to oppress.

⁸And Ephraim said, “Surely I have become ^arich;

I have found wealth for myself;

In all my labors they will find in me

^bNo iniquity, which would be sin.”

⁹But I have been Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt;

I will make you ^asettle in tents again,

As in the days of the appointed festival.

¹⁰And I have spoken to the ^aprophets,

And I ¹made visions abound,

And by the hand of the prophets I gave ^bparables.

¹¹Is there wickedness in Gilead?

Surely they are worthless.

In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;

Yes, ^atheir altars are like the stone heaps

Beside the furrows of the field.

¹²Now ^aJacob fled to the field of Aram,

And ^bIsrael worked for a wife,

And for a wife he kept sheep.

¹³But by a ^aprophet Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt,

And by a prophet he was kept.

^14aEphraim has provoked to bitter anger;

So his Lord will leave his ^bbloodguilt on him

And cause his ^creproach to return to him.

CHAPTER 13

Ephraim’s Idolatry

^1aWhen Ephraim ¹spoke, there was trembling.

He ^blifted himself up in Israel,

But through ^cBaal he became guilty and died.

²And now they sin more and more

And make for themselves ^amolten images,

Idols ^bmade from their silver according to their understanding,

All of them the ^cwork of craftsmen.

They are saying of them, “Let the ¹men who sacrifice kiss the ^dcalves!”

³Therefore they will be like the ^amorning cloud

And like dew which ¹soon disappears,

Like ^bchaff which is blown away from the threshing floor

And like ^csmoke from a ²chimney.

⁴Yet I have been ^aYahweh your God

Since the land of Egypt;

And you were not to know ^bany god except Me,

And there is no savior ^cbesides Me.

⁵I Myself ^aknew you in the wilderness,

^bIn the land of drought.

⁶As they had their pasture, then they became ^asatisfied,

Indeed, they were satisfied, and their ^bheart became raised up;

Therefore they ^cforgot Me.

⁷So I will be ^alike a lion to them;

Like a ^bleopard I will ¹lie in wait by the wayside.

⁸I will encounter them ^alike a bear robbed of her cubs,

And I will tear open ¹the chest enclosing their heart;

There I will also ^bdevour them like a lioness,

As a beast of the field would rip them open.

⁹It is your ruin, O Israel,

¹That you are ^aagainst Me, against your ^bhelp.

¹⁰Where now is your ^aking,

That he may save you in all your cities,

And your ^bjudges of whom you said,

“Give me a king and princes”?

¹¹I ^agave you a king in My anger

And ^btook him away in My wrath.

¹²The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;

His sin is ^astored up.

¹³The pains of ^achildbirth come upon him;

He is ^bnot a wise son,

For ¹it is not the time that he should ^cdelay at the opening of the womb.

¹⁴Shall I ^aransom them from the ¹power of Sheol?

Shall I redeem them from death?

^bO Death, where are your thorns?

O Sheol, where is your sting?

^cCompassion will be hidden from My sight.

¹⁵Though he ^ais fruitful among the ¹reeds,

An ^beast wind will come,

The wind of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness;

And his fountain will ^cbecome dry,

And his spring will be dried up;

It will ^dplunder his treasury of every desirable article.

¹⁶¹Samaria will be held ^aguilty,

For she has ^brebelled against her God.

^cThey will fall by the ^dsword;

Their infants will be ^edashed in pieces,

And their pregnant ^fwomen will be ripped open.

CHAPTER 14

Yahweh’s Anger Turns Away from Israel

^11aReturn, O Israel, to Yahweh your God,

For you have stumbled in your ^biniquity.

²Take words with you and return to Yahweh.

Say to Him, “^aForgive all iniquity

And ¹take what is good,

That we may ^bpay in full ²the fruit of our lips.

³“Assyria will not save us;

We will ^anot ride on horses,

Nor will we say again, ‘^bOur god,’

To the ^cwork of our hands;

For in ^dYou the ¹orphan finds compassion.”

⁴I will ^aheal their turning away from Me;

I will ^blove them freely,

For My anger has ^cturned away from them.

⁵I will be like the ^adew to Israel;

He will flourish like the ^blily,

And he will ¹take root like the cedars of ^cLebanon.

⁶His shoots will go forth,

And his splendor will be like the ^aolive tree

And his fragrance like the cedars of ^bLebanon.

⁷Those who ^alive in his shadow

Will ¹again raise ^bgrain,

And they will flourish like the vine.

His name of remembrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸O Ephraim, what more have I to do with ^aidols?

It is I who answer and look after ¹you.

I am like a luxuriant ^bcypress;

From ^cMe ²comes your fruit.

^9aWhoever is wise, so let him discern these things;

Whoever is discerning, let him know them.

For the ^bways of Yahweh are right,

And the ^crighteous will walk in them,

But ^dtransgressors will stumble in them.