Hosea 10–14

Israel’s Sin and Captivity

¹⁰Israel is a luxuriant vine

that yields its fruit.

The more his fruit increased,

the more altars he built;

as his country improved,

he improved his pillars.^*

²Their heart is false;

now they must bear their guilt.

The Lord^q will break down their altars

and destroy their pillars.^*

³For now they will say:

“We have no king,

for we do not fear the Lord,

and a king—what could he do for us?”

⁴They utter mere words;

with empty oaths they make covenants;

so litigation springs up like poisonous weeds

in the furrows of the field.^*

⁵The inhabitants of Samaria tremble

for the calf^r of Beth-aven.

Its people shall mourn for it,

and its idolatrous priests shall wail^s over it,

over its glory that has departed from it.^*

⁶The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria

as tribute to the great king.^t

Ephraim shall be put to shame,

and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.^u*

⁷Samaria’s king shall perish

like a chip on the face of the waters.^*

⁸The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,

shall be destroyed.

Thorn and thistle shall grow up

on their altars.

They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”

and to the hills, “Fall on us.”^*

⁹Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;

there they have continued.

Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah?^*

¹⁰I will come^v against the wayward people to punish them,

and nations shall be gathered against them

when they are punished^w for their double iniquity.^*

¹¹Ephraim was a trained heifer

that loved to thresh,

and I spared her fair neck,

but I will make Ephraim break the ground;

Judah must plow;

Jacob must harrow for himself.^*

¹²Sow for yourselves righteousness;

reap steadfast love;

break up your fallow ground,

for it is time to seek the Lord,

that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.^*

¹³You have plowed wickedness;

you have reaped injustice;

you have eaten the fruit of lies.

Because you have trusted in your chariots,^x

in the multitude of your warriors,^*

¹⁴therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people,

and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,

as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,

when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.^*

¹⁵Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,

because of your great wickedness.

At dawn the king of Israel

shall be utterly cut off.^*

God’s Compassion Despite Israel’s Ingratitude

¹¹When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.^*

²The more I^y called them,

the more they went from me;^z

they kept sacrificing to the Baals

and offering incense to idols.^*

³Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;

I took them up in my^a arms,

but they did not know that I healed them.^*

⁴I led them with cords of human kindness,

with bands of love.

I was to them like those

who lift infants to their cheeks.^b

I bent down to them and fed them.^*

⁵They shall return to the land of Egypt,

and Assyria shall be their king,

because they have refused to return to me.^*

⁶The sword rages in their cities;

it consumes their oracle priests

and devours because of their schemes.^*

⁷My people are bent on turning away from me.

To the Most High they call,

but he does not raise them up at all.^c*

⁸How can I give you up, Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

My heart recoils within me;

my compassion grows warm and tender.^*

⁹I will not execute my fierce anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim,

for I am God and no mortal,

the Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath.^d*

¹⁰They shall go after the Lord,

who roars like a lion;

when he roars,

his children shall come trembling from the west.^*

¹¹They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt

and like doves from the land of Assyria,

and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.^*

^12eEphraim has surrounded me with lies

and the house of Israel with deceit,

but Judah still walks^f with God

and is faithful to the Holy One.^*

¹²Ephraim herds the wind

and pursues the east wind all day long;

they multiply falsehood and violence;

they make a treaty with Assyria,

and oil is carried to Egypt.^*

The Long History of Rebellion

²The Lord has an indictment against Judah

and will punish Jacob according to his ways

and repay him according to his deeds.^*

³In the womb he tried to supplant his brother,

and in his manhood he strove with God.^*

⁴He strove with the angel and prevailed;

he wept and sought his favor;

he met him at Bethel,

and there he spoke with him.^g*

⁵The Lord the God of hosts,

the Lord is his name!

⁶But as for you, return to your God;

hold fast to love and justice,

and wait continually for your God.^*

⁷A trader in whose hands are false balances,

he loves to oppress.^*

⁸Ephraim has said, “Ah, I am rich;

I have gained wealth for myself;

in all of my gain

no offense has been found in me

that would be sin.”^h*

⁹I am the Lord your God

from the land of Egypt;

I will make you live in tents again,

as in the days of the appointed festival.^*

¹⁰I spoke to the prophets;

it was I who multiplied visions,

and through the prophets I will bring destruction.^*

¹¹Inⁱ Gilead there is iniquity;

they shall surely come to nothing.

In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,

so their altars shall be like stone heaps

on the furrows of the field.^*

¹²Jacob fled to the land of Aram;

there Israel served for a wife,

and for a wife he guarded sheep.^j*

¹³By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,

and by a prophet he was guarded.^*

¹⁴Ephraim has given bitter offense,

so his Lord will bring his crimes down on him

and pay him back for his insults.^*

Relentless Judgment on Israel

¹³When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;

he was exalted in Israel,

but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.^*

²And now they keep on sinning

and make a cast image for themselves,

idols of silver made according to their understanding,

all of them the work of artisans.

“Sacrifice to these,” they say.^k

People are kissing calves!^*

³Therefore they shall be like the morning mist

or like the dew that goes away early,

like chaff that swirls from the threshing floor

or like smoke from a window.^*

⁴Yet I have been the Lord your God

ever since the land of Egypt;

you know no God but me,

and besides me there is no savior.^*

⁵It was I who fed^l you in the wilderness,

in the land of drought.^*

⁶When I fed^m them, they were satisfied;

they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;

therefore they forgot me.^*

⁷So I will become like a lion to them;

like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.^*

⁸I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs

and will tear open the covering of their heart;

there I will devour them like a lion,

as a wild animal would mangle them.

⁹I will destroy you, O Israel;

who can help you?ⁿ

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

Where in all your cities are your rulers,

of whom you said,

“Give me a king and rulers”?^*

¹¹I gave you a king in my anger,

and I took him away in my wrath.^*

¹²Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up;

his sin is kept in store.^*

¹³The pangs of childbirth come for him,

but he is an unwise son,

for at the proper time he does not present himself

at the mouth of the womb.^*

¹⁴Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?

Shall I redeem them from Death?

O Death, where are^p your plagues?

O Sheol, where is^q your destruction?

Compassion is hidden from my eyes.^*

¹⁵Although he may flourish among rushes,^r

the east wind shall come, a blast from the Lord,

rising from the wilderness,

and his fountain shall dry up;

his spring shall be parched.

It shall strip his treasury

of every precious thing.^*

^16sSamaria shall bear her guilt

because she has rebelled against her God;

they shall fall by the sword;

their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,

and their pregnant women ripped open.^*

A Plea for Repentance

¹⁴Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.^*

²Take words with you

and return to the Lord;

say to him,

“Take away all guilt;

accept that which is good,

and we will offer

the fruit^t of our lips.^*

³Assyria shall not save us;

we will not ride upon horses;

we will say no more, ‘Our God,’

to the work of our hands.

In you the orphan finds mercy.”^*

Assurance of Forgiveness

⁴I will heal their disloyalty;

I will love them freely,

for my anger has turned from them.^*

⁵I will be like the dew to Israel;

he shall blossom like the lily;

he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.^u*

⁶His shoots shall spread out;

his beauty shall be like the olive tree

and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.^*

⁷They shall again live beneath my^v shadow;

they shall flourish as a garden;^w

they shall blossom like the vine;

their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.^*

⁸O Ephraim, what have I^x to do with idols?

It is I who answer and look after you.^y

I am like an evergreen cypress;

your fruit comes from me.^*

⁹Those who are wise understand these things;

those who are discerning know them.

For the ways of the Lord are right,

and the upright walk in them,

but transgressors stumble in them.^*