Infidelity despite divine goodness
13 When Ephraim spoke, there was excitement;
he was praised in Israel;
but he became guilty through Baal and died.
2 And now they keep on sinning;
they have made metal images,
idols of silver,
as a result of their skill,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
“Sacrifice to these,” they say.
People are kissing calves!
3 Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,
like the dew that passes away early,
like husks that swirl from the threshing floor,
or like smoke from a window.
4 Yet I have been the Lord your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
and you will know no other gods but me;
there is no savior besides me.
5 I knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of no rain.
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
and their hearts became proud;
therefore, they forgot me.
Consequences of infidelity
7 So I will become like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk beside the road.
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
and I will tear open the covering of their hearts.
I will devour them like a lion,
as a wild animal would eat them.
9 I will destroy you, Israel;
for you didn’t realize that I could help you.
10 Where is your king now,
so that he can save you?
Where in all your cities are your judges,
of whom you said,
“Give me a king and rulers”?
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.
12 Ephraim’s wickedness is bound up;
his sin is kept in store.
13 The pangs of a woman in childbirth come for him,
but he is not aware of the time to be born;
for at the proper time he doesn’t present himself
at the mouth of the womb.
14 Will I ransom them from the power of the grave[a]
Will I redeem them from death’s hold?
Death, where are your diseases?
Grave,[b] where is your destruction?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Although he may flourish among rushes,
the east wind will come—
the breath of God
rising from the wilderness;
and his spring will dry up;
his fountain will be dried up.
It will strip his household
of every cherished possession.
16 [c] Samaria will be desolate,
because she has rebelled against her God;
by the sword they will fall—
their babies will be dashed,
and their pregnant women ripped open.
Footnotes
- Hosea 13:14 Heb Sheol
- Hosea 13:14 Heb Sheol
- Hosea 13:16 14:1 in Heb