Hosea 10-14

English Standard Version

10 ^(A)Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
    ^(B)the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
    he improved his pillars.
² Their heart is false;
    now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord^[a] will break down their altars
    and destroy their pillars.

³ For now they will say:
    ^(C)“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
⁴ They utter ^(D)mere words;
    with empty^[b] oaths they make covenants;
so ^(E)judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    ^(F)in the furrows of the field.
⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
    for ^(G)the calf^[c] of ^(H)Beth-aven.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
    those who rejoiced over it and ^(I)over its glory—
    for it has departed^[d] from them.
^6 (J)The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
    as tribute to ^(K)the great king.^[e]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed ^(L)of his idol.^[f]

^7 (M)Samaria's king shall perish
    like a twig on the face of the waters.
⁸ The high places of ^(N)Aven, ^(O)the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
^(P)Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
and ^(Q)they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

⁹ From ^(R)the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not the war against the unjust^[g] overtake them in Gibeah?
^10 (S)When I please, ^(T)I will discipline them,
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are bound up for ^(U)their double iniquity.

¹¹ Ephraim was a trained calf
    that ^(V)loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put ^(W)Ephraim to the yoke;
    ^(X)Judah must plow;
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
^12 (Y)Sow for yourselves righteousness;
    reap steadfast love;
    ^(Z)break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
    that he may come and ^(AA)rain righteousness upon you.

^13 (AB)You have plowed iniquity;
    you have reaped injustice;
    you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
    and in the multitude of your warriors,
¹⁴ therefore ^(AC)the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as ^(AD)Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
    ^(AE)mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
¹⁵ Thus it shall be done to you, O ^(AF)Bethel,
    because of your great evil.
At dawn ^(AG)the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.

³ Yet it was ^(AN)I who taught Ephraim to walk;
    I took them up by their arms,
    but they did not know that ^(AO)I healed them.
^4 (AP)I led them with cords of kindness,^[h]
    with the bands of love,
and ^(AQ)I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
    and ^(AR)I bent down to them and fed them.

^5 (AS)They shall not^[i] return to the land of Egypt,
    but ^(AT)Assyria shall be their king,
    ^(AU)because ^(AV)they have refused to return to me.
^6 (AW)The sword shall rage against their cities,
    consume the bars of their gates,
    and devour them ^(AX)because of their own counsels.
⁷ My people are bent ^(AY)on turning away from me,
    and though ^(AZ)they call out to the Most High,
    he shall not raise them up at all.

⁸ How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
^(BA)How can I make you ^(BB)like Admah?
    How can I treat you ^(BC)like Zeboiim?
^(BD)My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
⁹ I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
^(BE)for I am God and not a man,
    ^(BF)the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.^[j]

^10 (BG)They shall go after the Lord;
    ^(BH)he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
    his children shall come trembling ^(BI)from the west;
¹¹ they shall come trembling like birds ^(BJ)from Egypt,
    and ^(BK)like doves ^(BL)from the land of Assyria,
    and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
^12 [k] Ephraim ^(BM)has surrounded me with lies,
    and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.
12 Ephraim feeds on the wind
    and pursues ^(BN)the east wind all day long;
they multiply ^(BO)falsehood and violence;
    ^(BP)they make a covenant with Assyria,
    and ^(BQ)oil is carried to Egypt.

⁷ A merchant, in whose hands are ^(BX)false balances,
    he loves ^(BY)to oppress.
⁸ Ephraim has said, “Ah, but ^(BZ)I am rich;
    I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors ^(CA)they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
^9 (CB)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you ^(CC)dwell in tents,
    as in the days of the appointed feast.

^10 (CD)I spoke to the prophets;
    it was I who multiplied ^(CE)visions,
    and through the prophets gave parables.
^11 (CF)If there is iniquity in Gilead,
    they shall surely come to nothing:
^(CG)in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
    ^(CH)their altars also are like stone heaps
    ^(CI)on the furrows of the field.
^12 (CJ)Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
    there Israel ^(CK)served for a wife,
    and for a wife he guarded sheep.
¹³ By ^(CL)a prophet ^(CM)the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
    and by a prophet he was guarded.
^14 (CN)Ephraim has given bitter provocation;
    so his Lord ^(CO)will leave his bloodguilt on him
    ^(CP)and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

⁴ But ^(CZ)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
^(DA)you know no God but me,
    and ^(DB)besides me there is no savior.
^5 (DC)It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
^6 (DD)but when they had grazed,^[m] they became full,
    ^(DE)they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    ^(DF)therefore they forgot me.
⁷ So ^(DG)I am to them like a lion;
    ^(DH)like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
⁸ I will fall upon them ^(DI)like a bear robbed of her cubs;
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    ^(DJ)as a wild beast would rip them open.

⁹ He destroys^[n] you, O Israel,
    for you are against me, against ^(DK)your helper.
^10 (DL)Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
    Where are all your rulers—
those of whom ^(DM)you said,
    “Give me a king and princes”?
^11 (DN)I gave you a king in my anger,
    and ^(DO)I took him away in my wrath.

¹² The iniquity of Ephraim is ^(DP)bound up;
    his sin is ^(DQ)kept in store.
^13 (DR)The pangs of childbirth come for him,
    but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
    ^(DS)at the opening of the womb.

^14 (DT)I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    ^(DU)I shall redeem them from Death.^[o]
(DV)O ^(DW)Death, where are your plagues?
    ^(DX)O ^(DY)Sheol, where is your sting?
    ^(DZ)Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵ Though ^(EA)he may flourish among his brothers,
    ^(EB)the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
    rising from the wilderness,
^(EC)and his fountain shall dry up;
    his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ^(ED)his treasury
    of every precious thing.
^16 [p] Samaria ^(EE)shall bear her guilt,
    because ^(EF)she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
    ^(EG)their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
    and their ^(EH)pregnant women ripped open.

⁴ I ^(EQ)will heal their apostasy;
    ^(ER)I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
^5 (ES)I will be like the dew to Israel;
    ^(ET)he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees ^(EU)of Lebanon;
⁶ his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be ^(EV)like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷ They shall return and ^(EW)dwell beneath my^[r] shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ O ^(EX)Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.^[s]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
    ^(EY)from me comes your fruit.

^9 (EZ)Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
    and ^(FA)the upright walk in them,
    ^(FB)but transgressors stumble in them.