Hosea 12–13

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.^*