Hosea 7:1–8:14
1 When I awould heal Israel,
The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the evil deeds of Samaria,
For they deal bfalsely;
The thief enters in,
cBandits raid outside,
2 And they do not 1consider in their hearts
That I aremember all their wickedness.
Now their bdeeds are all around them;
They are before My face.
3 aWith their wickedness they make the bking glad,
And the princes with their clies.
4 They are aall adulterers,
Like an oven heated by the baker
Who ceases to stir up the fire
From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
5 On the 1day of our king, the princes abecame sick with the heat of wine;
He stretched out his hand with bscoffers,
6 For their hearts are like an aoven
As they approach their 1plotting;
Their 2anger 3smolders all night,
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot like an oven,
And they consume their arulers;
All their kings have fallen.
bNone of them calls on Me.
8 Ephraim amixes himself with the 1nations;
Ephraim has become a cake not turned.
9 aStrangers devour his strength,
Yet he bdoes not know it;
Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him,
Yet he does not know it.
10 Though the apride of Israel testifies against him,
Yet bthey have not returned to the Lord their God,
Nor have they sought Him, for all this.
11 So aEphraim has become like a silly dove, bwithout 1sense;
They call to cEgypt, they go to dAssyria.
12 When they go, I will aspread My net over them;
I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.
I will bchastise them in accordance with the 1proclamation to their assembly.
13 aWoe to them, for they have bstrayed from Me!
Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!
I cwould redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.
14 And athey do not cry to Me from their heart
When they wail on their beds;
For the sake of grain and new wine they 1bassemble themselves,
They cturn away from Me.
15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
Yet they adevise evil against Me.
16 They turn, but not 1upward,
They are like a adeceitful bow;
Their princes will fall by the sword
Because of the 2binsolence of their tongue.
This will be their cderision in the land of Egypt.
1 aPut the trumpet to your 1lips!
bLike an eagle the enemy comes cagainst the house of the Lord,
Because they have dtransgressed My covenant
And rebelled against My elaw.
2 aThey cry out to Me,
“My God, bwe of Israel know You!”
3 Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.
4 aThey have set up kings, but not by Me;
They have appointed princes, but I did not know it.
With their bsilver and gold they have made idols for themselves,
That 1they might be cut off.
5 1He has rejected your acalf, O Samaria, saying,
“My anger burns against them!”
How long will they be incapable of binnocence?
6 For from Israel is even this!
A acraftsman made it, so it is not God;
Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to 1pieces.
7 For athey sow the wind
And they reap the bwhirlwind.
The standing grain has no 1heads;
Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.
8 Israel is aswallowed up;
They are now among the nations
Like a bvessel in which no one delights.
9 For they have gone up to aAssyria,
Like ba wild donkey all alone;
10 Even though they hire allies among the nations,
Now I will agather them up;
And they will begin bto 1diminish
Because of the burden of the cking of princes.
11 Since Ephraim has amultiplied altars for sin,
They have become altars of sinning for him.
12 Though aI wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My blaw,
They are regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for My asacrificial gifts,
They bsacrifice the flesh and eat it,
But the Lord has taken no delight in them.
Now He will cremember their iniquity,
And dpunish them for their sins;
They will return to eEgypt.
14 For Israel has aforgotten his Maker and bbuilt palaces;
And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
But I will send a cfire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings.