Hosea 7:12-14

Contemporary English Version

¹²But I will catch them in a net
    as hunters trap birds;
I threatened to punish them,
    and indeed I will.^[a]
¹³Trouble and destruction
will be their reward
    for rejecting me.
I would have rescued them,
    but they told me lies.

¹⁴They don't really pray to me;
    they just howl in their beds.
They have rejected me for Baal
    and slashed themselves,^[b]
in the hope that Baal
    will bless their crops.

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Footnotes

7.12 I threatened … will: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
7.14 slashed themselves: One ancient translation and some Hebrew manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts “gather together.” Slashing themselves was one way of worshiping Baal (see 1 Kings 18.28).