Hosea 7

7whenever I would heal Israel,

the sins of Ephraim are exposed

and the crimes of Samaria revealed.^k

They practice deceit,^l

thieves break into houses,^m

bandits rob in the streets;ⁿ

²but they do not realize

that I remember^o all their evil deeds.^p

Their sins engulf them;^q

they are always before me.

³“They delight the king with their wickedness,

the princes with their lies.^r

⁴They are all adulterers,^s

burning like an oven

whose fire the baker need not stir

from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

⁵On the day of the festival of our king

the princes become inflamed with wine,^t

and he joins hands with the mockers.^u

⁶Their hearts are like an oven;^v

they approach him with intrigue.

Their passion smolders all night;

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

⁷All of them are hot as an oven;

they devour their rulers.

All their kings fall,^w

and none of them calls^x on me.

⁸“Ephraim mixes^y with the nations;

Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.

⁹Foreigners sap his strength,^z

but he does not realize it.

His hair is sprinkled with gray,

but he does not notice.

¹⁰Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,^a

but despite all this

he does not return^b to the Lord his God

or search^c for him.

¹¹“Ephraim is like a dove,^d

easily deceived and senseless—

now calling to Egypt,^e

now turning to Assyria.^f

¹²When they go, I will throw my net^g over them;

I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.

When I hear them flocking together,

I will catch them.

¹³Woe^h to them,

because they have strayedⁱ from me!

Destruction to them,

because they have rebelled against me!

I long to redeem them

but they speak about me^j falsely.^k

¹⁴They do not cry out to me from their hearts^l

but wail on their beds.

They slash themselves,^a appealing to their gods

for grain and new wine,^m

but they turn away from me.ⁿ

¹⁵I trained^o them and strengthened their arms,

but they plot evil^p against me.

¹⁶They do not turn to the Most High;^q

they are like a faulty bow.^r

Their leaders will fall by the sword

because of their insolent^s words.

For this they will be ridiculed^t

in the land of Egypt.^u