Hosea 13

Ephraim’s Idolatry

11When Ephraim 2spoke, there was trembling. He 3exalted himself in Israel, But through 4Baal he 5did wrong and died.2And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves 6molten images, Idols 78skillfully made from their silver, All of them the 9work of craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the 10men who sacrifice kiss the 11calves!”3Therefore they will be like the 12morning cloud And like dew which 13soon disappears, Like 14chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor And like 15smoke from a 16chimney.

4Yet I have been the 17Lord your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know 18any god except Me, For there is no savior 19besides Me.5I 2021cared for you in the wilderness, 22In the land of drought.6As they had their pasture, they became 23satisfied, And being satisfied, their 24heart became proud; Therefore they 25forgot Me.7So I will be 26like a lion to them; Like a 27leopard I will 28lie in wait by the wayside.8I will encounter them 29like a bear robbed of her cubs, And I will tear open 30their chests; There I will also 31devour them like a lioness, As a wild beast would tear them.

9It is your destruction, O Israel, 32That you are 33against Me, against your 34help.10Where now is your 35king That he may save you in all your cities, And your 36judges of whom you 37requested, “Give me a king and princes”?11I 38gave you a king in My anger And 39took him away in My wrath.

12The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; His sin is 40stored up.13The pains of 41childbirth come upon him; He is 42not a wise son, For 43it is not the time that he should 44delay at the opening of the womb.14Shall I 45ransom them from the 46power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? 47O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? 48Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

15Though he 49flourishes among the 50reeds, An 51east wind will come, The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will 52become dry And his spring will be dried up; It will 53plunder his treasury of every precious article.1654Samaria will be held 55guilty, For she has 56rebelled against her God. 57They will fall by the 58sword, Their little ones will be 59dashed in pieces, And their pregnant 60women will be ripped open.