Retribution for Israel’s Sin
10 Israel is a [a]luxuriant vine;
He produces fruit for himself.
The more his fruit,
The more altars he made;
The [b]richer his land,
The better [c]he made the sacred pillars.
2 Their heart is [d]faithless;
Now they must bear their guilt.
[e]The Lord will break down their altars
And destroy their sacred pillars.
3 Surely now they will say, “We have no king,
For we do not revere the Lord.
As for the king, what can he do for us?”
4 They speak mere words,
[f]With worthless oaths they make covenants;
And judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria will fear
For the [g]calf of Beth-aven.
Indeed, its people will mourn for it,
And its idolatrous priests [h]will cry out over it,
Over its glory, since it has departed from it.
6 The thing itself will be carried to Assyria
As tribute to [i]King Jareb;
Ephraim will [j]be seized with shame
And Israel will be ashamed of its own counsel.
7 Samaria will be cut off with her king
Like a stick on the surface of the water.
8 Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed;
Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars;
Then they will say to the mountains,
“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 From the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
There they stand!
Will not the battle against the sons of iniquity overtake them in Gibeah?
10 When it is My desire, I will [k]chastise them;
And the peoples will be gathered against them
When they are bound for their double guilt.
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh,
But I will come over her fair neck with a yoke;
I will harness Ephraim,
Judah will plow, Jacob will harrow for himself.
12 Sow with a view to righteousness,
Reap in accordance with [l]kindness;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord
Until He comes to [m]rain righteousness on you.
13 You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice,
You have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors,
14 Therefore a tumult will arise among your people,
And all your fortresses will be destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
When mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
15 Thus it will be done to you at Bethel because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel will be completely cut off.
Footnotes
Hosea 10:1 Or degenerate
Hosea 10:1 Or better
Hosea 10:1 Lit they
Hosea 10:2 Lit smooth
Hosea 10:2 Lit He
Hosea 10:4 Or Swearing falsely in making a covenant
Hosea 10:5 So with some ancient versions; Heb calves
Hosea 10:5 Or who used to rejoice over
Hosea 10:6 Or the avenging king or the great king
Hosea 10:6 Lit receive shame
Hosea 10:10 Or bind
Hosea 10:12 Or loyalty
Hosea 10:12 Or teach
God Yearns over His People
11 When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son.
2 The more [a]they called them,
The more they went from [b]them;
They kept sacrificing to the Baals
And burning incense to idols.
3 Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk,
[c]I took them in My arms;
But they did not know that I healed them.
4 I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,
And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and fed them.
5 [d]They will not return to the land of Egypt;
But Assyria—he will be [e]their king
Because they refused to return to Me.
6 The sword will whirl against [f]their cities,
And will demolish [g]their gate bars
And consume them because of their counsels.
7 So My people are bent on turning from Me.
Though [h]they call [i]them to the One on high,
None at all exalts Him.
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I [j]make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart is turned over within Me,
[k]All My compassions are kindled.
9 I will not execute My fierce anger;
I will not destroy Ephraim again.
For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst,
And I will not come in [l]wrath.
10 They will walk after the Lord,
He will roar like a lion;
Indeed He will roar
And His sons will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt
And like doves from the land of Assyria;
And I will settle them in their houses, declares the Lord.
12 [m]Ephraim surrounds Me with lies
And the house of Israel with deceit;
Judah is also unruly against God,
Even against the Holy One who is faithful.
Footnotes
Hosea 11:2 I.e. God’s prophets
Hosea 11:2 I.e. God’s prophets
Hosea 11:3 So ancient versions; Heb He...His
Hosea 11:5 Lit He
Hosea 11:5 Lit his
Hosea 11:6 Lit his
Hosea 11:6 Lit his
Hosea 11:7 I.e. God’s prophets
Hosea 11:7 Lit him; i.e. Israel
Hosea 11:8 Lit give
Hosea 11:8 Lit Together
Hosea 11:9 Lit excitement
Hosea 11:12 Ch 12:1 in Heb
Ephraim Reminded
12 [a]Ephraim feeds on wind,
And pursues the east wind continually;
He multiplies lies and violence.
Moreover, [b]he makes a covenant with Assyria,
And oil is carried to Egypt.
2 The Lord also has a dispute with Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
He will repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
And in his maturity he contended with God.
4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept and sought His favor.
He found Him at Bethel
And there He spoke with us,
5 Even the Lord, the God of hosts,
The Lord is His [c]name.
6 Therefore, return to your God,
Observe [d]kindness and justice,
And wait for your God continually.
7 A [e]merchant, in whose hands are false balances,
He loves to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors they will find in me
No iniquity, which would be sin.”
9 But I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
As in the days of the appointed festival.
10 I have also spoken to the prophets,
And I [f]gave numerous visions,
And through the prophets I gave parables.
11 Is there iniquity in Gilead?
Surely they are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
Yes, their altars are like the stone heaps
Beside the furrows of the field.
12 Now Jacob fled to the [g]land of Aram,
And Israel worked for a wife,
And for a wife he kept sheep.
13 But by a prophet the Lord brought Israel from Egypt,
And by a prophet he was kept.
14 Ephraim has provoked to bitter anger;
So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him
And bring back his reproach to him.
Footnotes
Hosea 12:1 Ch 12:2 in Heb
Hosea 12:1 Lit they make
Hosea 12:5 Lit memorial
Hosea 12:6 Or loyalty
Hosea 12:7 Or Canaanite
Hosea 12:10 Lit multiplied the vision
Hosea 12:12 Lit field
Ephraim’s Idolatry
13 When Ephraim [a]spoke, there was trembling.
He exalted himself in Israel,
But through Baal he [b]did wrong and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves molten images,
Idols [c]skillfully made from their silver,
All of them the work of craftsmen.
They say of them, “Let the [d]men who sacrifice kiss the calves!”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning cloud
And like dew which [e]soon disappears,
Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor
And like smoke from a [f]chimney.
4 Yet I have been the Lord your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know any god except Me,
For there is no savior besides Me.
5 I [g]cared for you in the wilderness,
In the land of drought.
6 As they had their pasture, they became satisfied,
And being satisfied, their heart became proud;
Therefore they forgot Me.
7 So I will be like a lion to them;
Like a leopard I will [h]lie in wait by the wayside.
8 I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open [i]their chests;
There I will also devour them like a lioness,
As a wild beast would tear them.
9 It is your destruction, O Israel,
[j]That you are against Me, against your help.
10 Where now is your king
That he may save you in all your cities,
And your judges of whom you [k]requested,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I gave you a king in My anger
And took him away in My wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is stored up.
13 The pains of childbirth come upon him;
He is not a wise son,
For [l]it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I ransom them from the [m]power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
15 Though he flourishes among the [n]reeds,
An east wind will come,
The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will become dry
And his spring will be dried up;
It will plunder his treasury of every precious article.
16 [o]Samaria will be held guilty,
For she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword,
Their little ones will be dashed in pieces,
And their pregnant women will be ripped open.
Footnotes
Hosea 13:1 Or spoke with trembling
Hosea 13:1 Or became guilty
Hosea 13:2 Or according to their own understanding
Hosea 13:2 Lit sacrificers of or, (among) mankind
Hosea 13:3 Lit goes away early
Hosea 13:3 Lit window
Hosea 13:5 Or knew
Hosea 13:7 Or watch
Hosea 13:8 Lit the enclosure of their heart
Hosea 13:9 Or But in Me is your help
Hosea 13:10 Lit said
Hosea 13:13 Lit it is the time that he should not tarry at the breaking forth of children
Hosea 13:14 Lit hand
Hosea 13:15 Or brothers
Hosea 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Heb
Israel’s Future Blessing
14 [a]Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled [b]because of your iniquity.
2 Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity
And [c]receive us graciously,
That we may present [d]the fruit of our lips.
3 “Assyria will not save us,
We will not ride on horses;
Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’
To the work of our hands;
For in You the [e]orphan finds mercy.”
4 I will heal their apostasy,
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the lily,
And he will [f]take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
6 His shoots will [g]sprout,
And his [h]beauty will be like the olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
7 Those who live in his shadow
Will [i]again raise grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after [j]you.
I am like a luxuriant cypress;
From Me comes your fruit.
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is discerning, let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
And the righteous will walk in them,
But transgressors will stumble in them.
Footnotes
Hosea 14:1 Ch 14:2 in Heb
Hosea 14:1 Or in
Hosea 14:2 Or accept that which is good
Hosea 14:2 So with ancient versions; M.T. our lips as bulls
Hosea 14:3 Or fatherless
Hosea 14:5 Lit strike his roots
Hosea 14:6 Lit go
Hosea 14:6 Or splendor
Hosea 14:7 Or return, they will raise grain
Hosea 14:8 Lit him
