Hosea 13

The Lord’s Relentless Judgment on Israel

1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
ahe was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt bthrough Baal and died.
2And now they sin more and more,
and cmake for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
dall of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
“Those who offer human sacrifice ekiss calves!”
3Therefore they shall be flike the morning mist
or glike the dew that goes early away,
hlike the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or ilike smoke from a window.
4 But jI am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
kyou know no God but me,
and lbesides me there is no savior.
5 mIt was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
6 nbut when they had grazed,
Hebrew according to their pasture
they became full,
pthey were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
qtherefore they forgot me.
7So rI am to them like a lion;
slike a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8I will fall upon them tlike a bear robbed of her cubs;
I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
uas a wild beast would rip them open.
9 He destroys
Or I will destroy
you, O Israel,
for you are against me, against wyour helper.
10 xWhere now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
Where are all your rulers
those of whom yyou said,
Give me a king and princes”?
11 zI gave you a king in my anger,
and aaI took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is abbound up;
his sin is ackept in store.
13 adThe pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
aeat the opening of the womb.
14 afI shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
agI shall redeem them from Death.
ahO aiDeath, where are your plagues?
ajO akSheol, where is your sting?
alCompassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Though amhe may flourish among his brothers,
anthe east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
rising from the wilderness,
aoand his fountain shall dry up;
his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip aphis treasury
of every precious thing.
16
Ch 14:1 in Hebrew
Samaria arshall bear her guilt,
because asshe has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
attheir little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
and their aupregnant women ripped open.
Copyright information for ESV