When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel; but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. 2 And 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.[a] People are kissing calves! 3 Therefore 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.
4 Yet 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. 5 It was I who fed[b] you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. 6 When I fed[c] them, they were satisfied; they were satisfied, and their heart was proud; therefore they forgot me. 7 So I will become like a lion to them, like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. 8 I 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.
9 I will destroy you, O Israel; who can help you?[d] 10 Where now is[e] 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”? 11 I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath.
12 Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up; his sin is kept in store. 13 The 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.
14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are[f] your plagues? O Sheol, where is[g] your destruction? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Although he may flourish among rushes,[h] 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. 16 [i] Samaria 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.
Footnotes
a. Hosea 13:2 Cn Compare Gk: Heb To these they say sacrifices of people
b. Hosea 13:5 Gk Syr: Heb knew
c. Hosea 13:6 Cn: Heb according to their pasture
d. Hosea 13:9 Gk Syr: Heb for in me is your help
e. Hosea 13:10 Gk Syr Vg: Heb I will be
f. Hosea 13:14 Gk Syr: Heb I will be
g. Hosea 13:14 Gk Syr: Heb I will be
h. Hosea 13:15 Or among brothers
i. Hosea 13:16 Ch 14.1 in Heb
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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