Hosea 11–14

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.^*