Hosea 13–14

The Lord’s Anger Against Israel

13When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;^l

he was exalted^m in Israel.

But he became guilty of Baal worshipⁿ and died.

²Now they sin more and more;

they make^o idols for themselves from their silver,^p

cleverly fashioned images,

all of them the work of craftsmen.^q

It is said of these people,

“They offer human sacrifices!

They kiss^ar calf-idols!^s”

³Therefore they will be like the morning mist,

like the early dew that disappears,^t

like chaff^u swirling from a threshing floor,^v

like smoke^w escaping through a window.

⁴“But I have been the Lord your God

ever since you came out of Egypt.^x

You shall acknowledge^y no God but me,^z

no Savior^a except me.

⁵I cared for you in the wilderness,^b

in the land of burning heat.

⁶When I fed them, they were satisfied;

when they were satisfied, they became proud;^c

then they forgot^d me.^e

⁷So I will be like a lion^f to them,

like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

⁸Like a bear robbed of her cubs,^g

I will attack them and rip them open;

like a lion^h I will devour them—

a wild animal will tear them apart.ⁱ

⁹“You are destroyed, Israel,

because you are against me,^j against your helper.^k

¹⁰Where is your king,^l that he may save you?

Where are your rulers in all your towns,

of whom you said,

‘Give me a king and princes’?^m

¹¹So in my anger I gave you a king,ⁿ

and in my wrath I took him away.^o

¹²The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,

his sins are kept on record.^p

¹³Pains as of a woman in childbirth^q come to him,

but he is a child without wisdom;

when the time^r arrives,

he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.^s

¹⁴“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;^t

I will redeem them from death.^u

Where, O death, are your plagues?

Where, O grave, is your destruction?^v

“I will have no compassion,

¹⁵even though he thrives^w among his brothers.

An east wind^x from the Lord will come,

blowing in from the desert;

his spring will fail

and his well dry up.^y

His storehouse will be plundered^z

of all its treasures.

¹⁶The people of Samaria^a must bear their guilt,^b

because they have rebelled^c against their God.

They will fall by the sword;^d

their little ones will be dashed^e to the ground,

their pregnant women^f ripped open.”^b

Repentance to Bring Blessing

14^aReturn,^g Israel, to the Lord your God.

Your sins^h have been your downfall!ⁱ

²Take words with you

and return to the Lord.

Say to him:

“Forgive^j all our sins

and receive us graciously,^k

that we may offer the fruit of our lips.^bl

³Assyria cannot save us;^m

we will not mount warhorses.ⁿ

We will never again say ‘Our gods’^o

to what our own hands have made,^p

for in you the fatherless^q find compassion.”

⁴“I will heal^r their waywardness^s

and love them freely,^t

for my anger has turned away^u from them.

⁵I will be like the dew^v to Israel;

he will blossom like a lily.^w

Like a cedar of Lebanon^x

he will send down his roots;^y

⁶his young shoots will grow.

His splendor will be like an olive tree,^z

his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.^a

⁷People will dwell again in his shade;^b

they will flourish like the grain,

they will blossom^c like the vine—

Israel’s fame will be like the wine^d of Lebanon.^e

⁸Ephraim, what more have I^c to do with idols?^f

I will answer him and care for him.

I am like a flourishing juniper;^g

your fruitfulness comes from me.”

⁹Who is wise?^h Let them realize these things.

Who is discerning? Let them understand.ⁱ

The ways of the Lord are right;^j

the righteous walk^k in them,

but the rebellious stumble in them.