Hosea 11–12

Chapter 11

The Lord’s Love for Israel

¹“When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and I called my son out of Egypt.

²But the more I called to him,

the farther he moved from me,

offering sacrifices to the images of Baal

and burning incense to idols.

³I myself taught Israel how to walk,

leading him along by the hand.

But he doesn’t know or even care

that it was I who took care of him.

⁴I led Israel along

with my ropes of kindness and love.

I lifted the yoke from his neck,

and I myself stooped to feed him.

⁵“But since my people refuse to return to me,

they will return to Egypt

and will be forced to serve Assyria.

⁶War will swirl through their cities;

their enemies will crash through their gates.

They will destroy them,

trapping them in their own evil plans.

⁷For my people are determined to desert me.

They call me the Most High,

but they don’t truly honor me.

⁸“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?

How can I let you go?

How can I destroy you like Admah

or demolish you like Zeboiim?

My heart is torn within me,

and my compassion overflows.

⁹No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.

I will not completely destroy Israel,

for I am God and not a mere mortal.

I am the Holy One living among you,

and I will not come to destroy.

¹⁰For someday the people will follow me.

I, the Lord, will roar like a lion.

And when I roar,

my people will return trembling from the west.

¹¹Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt.

Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria.

And I will bring them home again,”

says the Lord.

Charges against Israel and Judah

¹² Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit,

but Judah still obeys God

and is faithful to the Holy One.

Chapter 12

¹ The people of Israel feed on the wind;

they chase after the east wind all day long.

They pile up lies and violence;

they are making an alliance with Assyria

while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.

²Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah.

He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways,

and pay him back for all he has done.

³Even in the womb,

Jacob struggled with his brother;

when he became a man,

he even fought with God.

⁴Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.

He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.

There at Bethel he met God face to face,

and God spoke to him—

⁵the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,

the Lord is his name!

⁶So now, come back to your God.

Act with love and justice,

and always depend on him.

⁷But no, the people are like crafty merchants

selling from dishonest scales—

they love to cheat.

⁸Israel boasts, “I am rich!

I’ve made a fortune all by myself!

No one has caught me cheating!

My record is spotless!”

⁹“But I am the Lord your God,

who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.

And I will make you live in tents again,

as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.

¹⁰I sent my prophets to warn you

with many visions and parables.”

¹¹But the people of Gilead are worthless

because of their idol worship.

And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;

their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone

along the edges of a plowed field.

¹²Jacob fled to the land of Aram,

and there he earned a wife by tending sheep.

¹³Then by a prophet

the Lord brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt;

and by that prophet

they were protected.

¹⁴But the people of Israel

have bitterly provoked the Lord,

so their Lord will now sentence them to death

in payment for their sins.