Hos 7, Hos 13 | ESV | STEP | when I would heal Israel , the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed , and the evil deeds of Samaria , for they deal falsely ; the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside .

Hosea 7

1 ^awhen I would heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
and the evil deeds of ^bSamaria,
for ^cthey deal falsely;
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid outside.
2 But they do not consider
that ^dI remember all their evil.
Now ^etheir deeds surround them;
^fthey are before my face.
3 By their evil ^gthey make ^hthe king glad,
and the princes by their treachery.
4 ⁱThey are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
from the kneading of the dough
until it is leavened.
5 On the day of ^jour king, the princes
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6 For with hearts like an oven ^kthey approach their intrigue;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All ^ltheir kings ^mhave fallen,
and none of them calls upon me.
8 Ephraim ⁿmixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 ^oStrangers devour his strength,
and ^phe knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and ^qhe knows it not.
10 ^rThe pride of Israel testifies to his face; ^{▼▼Or in his presence}
^tyet they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek him, for all this.
11 Ephraim is like a dove,
^usilly and without sense,
calling to ^vEgypt, going to ^wAssyria.
12 As they go, ^xI will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
^yI will discipline them ^zaccording to the report made to their congregation.
13 ^aaWoe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
^abI would redeem them,
but ^acthey speak lies against me.
14 ^adThey do not cry to me from the heart,
but ^aethey wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
15 Although ^afI trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16 They ^agreturn, but not upward; ^{▼▼Or to the Most High}
they are ^ailike a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of ^ajthe insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision ^akin the land of Egypt.

Hosea 13

The Lord’s Relentless Judgment on Israel

1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
^alhe was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt ^amthrough Baal and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
and ^anmake for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
^aoall of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
“Those who offer human sacrifice ^apkiss calves!”
3 Therefore they shall be ^aqlike the morning mist
or ^arlike the dew that goes early away,
^aslike the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or ^atlike smoke from a window.
4 But ^auI am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
^avyou know no God but me,
and ^awbesides me there is no savior.
5 ^axIt was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
6 ^aybut when they had grazed, ^{▼▼Hebrew according to their pasture} they became full,
^bathey were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
^bbtherefore they forgot me.
7 So ^bcI am to them like a lion;
^bdlike a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8 I will fall upon them ^belike a bear robbed of her cubs;
I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
^bfas a wild beast would rip them open.
9 He destroys ^{▼▼Or I will destroy} you, O Israel,
for you are against me, against ^bhyour helper.
10 ^biWhere now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
Where are all your rulers—
those of whom ^bjyou said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 ^bkI gave you a king in my anger,
and ^blI took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is ^bmbound up;
his sin is ^bnkept in store.
13 ^boThe pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
^bpat the opening of the womb.
14 ^bqI shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
^brI shall redeem them from Death.
^bsO ^btDeath, where are your plagues?
^buO ^bvSheol, where is your sting?
^bwCompassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Though ^bxhe may flourish among his brothers,
^bythe east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
rising from the wilderness,
^bzand his fountain shall dry up;
his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ^cahis treasury
of every precious thing.
16 ^{▼▼Ch 14:1 in Hebrew} Samaria ^ccshall bear her guilt,
because ^cdshe has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
^cetheir little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
and their ^cfpregnant women ripped open.