Hosea 13

Ephraim’s Idolatry

1 ^aWhen Ephraim ▼

▼Or spoke with trembling, he exalted

spoke, there was trembling.
He ^cexalted himself in Israel,
But through ^dBaal he incurred guilt and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves ^ecast metal images,
Idols ▼

▼Or according to their skill

, ^gskillfully made from their silver,
All of them the ^hwork of craftsmen.
They say of them, “Let the ▼

▼Lit sacrificers of; or among mankind

people who sacrifice kiss the ^jcalves!”
3 Therefore they will be like the ^kmorning cloud
And like dew which ▼

▼Lit goes away early

soon disappears,
Like ^mchaff which is blown away from the threshing floor,
And like ⁿsmoke from a chimney.

4 Yet I have been the ^oLord your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know ^pany god except Me,
For there is no savior ^qbesides Me.
5 I ▼

▼Or knew

, ^scared for you in the wilderness,
^tIn the land of drought.
6 As they had their pasture, they became ^usatisfied,
And as they became satisfied, their ^vheart became proud;
Therefore they ^wforgot Me.
7 So I will be ^xlike a lion to them;
Like a ^yleopard I will ▼

▼Or watch

lie in wait by the wayside.
8 I will confront them ^aalike a bear deprived of her cubs,
And I will tear open ▼

▼Lit the enclosure of their heart

their chests;
I will also ^acdevour them there like a lioness,
As a wild animal would tear them to pieces.

9 ▼

▼Lit It has destroyed you

It is to your own destruction, Israel,
That you are ^aeagainst Me, against your ^afhelp.
10 Where then is your ^agking,
That he might save you in all your cities;
And your ^ahjudges, to whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I ^aigave you a king in My anger,
And ^ajtook him away in My wrath.

12 The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up;
His sin is ^akstored up.
13 The pains of ^alchildbirth come on him;
He is ^amnot a wise son,
For ▼

▼Lit it is the time that he should not remain at the opening of children

it is not the time that he should ^aodelay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I ^apransom them from the ▼

▼Lit hand

power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
^arDeath, where are your ▼

▼Or stings

thorns?
Sheol, where is your sting?
^atCompassion will be hidden from My sight.

15 Though he ^auflourishes among the ▼

▼Another reading is brothers

reeds,
An ^aweast wind will come,
The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will ^axbecome dry
And his spring will dry up;
It will ^ayplunder his treasury of every precious article.
16 ▼

▼Ch 14:1 in Heb

Samaria will pay the penalty for her ^baguilt,
Because she has ^bbrebelled against her God.
^bcThey will fall by the ^bdsword,
Their children will be ▼

▼Lit shattered

, ^bfslaughtered,
And their pregnant ^bgwomen will be ripped open.