Hosea 12-13

Complete Jewish Bible

12 ^(11:12)“Efrayim surrounds me with lies
and the house of Isra’el with deceit.
Y’hudah still rules with God
and is faithful with holy ones.
²⁽¹⁾Efrayim is chasing the wind,
pursuing the wind from the east.
All day he piles up lies and desolation —
they make a covenant with Ashur,
while sending olive oil to Egypt.

³⁽²⁾Adonai also has a grievance against Y’hudah;
he will punish Ya‘akov according to his ways
and pay him back for his misdeeds.
⁴⁽³⁾In the womb he took his brother by the heel;
in the strength of his manhood he fought with God.
⁵⁽⁴⁾Yes, he fought with an angel and won;
he wept and pleaded with him.
Then at Beit-El he found him,
and there he would [later] speak with us —
⁶⁽⁵⁾Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot;
Adonai is his name!
⁷⁽⁶⁾So you, return to your God;
hold fast to grace and justice;
and always put your hope in your God.

⁸⁽⁷⁾“A huckster keeps false scales,
and he loves to cheat.
⁹⁽⁸⁾Efrayim says, ‘I have gotten so rich!
I have made me a fortune!
And in all my profits no one will find
anything wrong or sinful.’

¹⁰⁽⁹⁾“But I am Adonai your God,
from the land of Egypt.
Again I will make you live in tents,
as in the days of the established festival.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾I have spoken to the prophets;
it was I who gave vision after vision;
through the prophets I gave examples
to show what it would all be like.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾Is Gil‘ad given to iniquity?
Yes, they have become worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice to bulls;
therefore their altars are like piles of stones
in a plowed field.”

¹³⁽¹²⁾Ya‘akov fled to the land of Aram.
There Isra’el slaved to win a wife;
for a wife he tended sheep.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾By a prophet Adonai brought Isra’el up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was protected.
¹⁵⁽¹⁴⁾Efrayim has given bitter provocation,
so the penalty for his bloodshed will be thrown down on him,
and his Lord will repay him for his insult.
13 “When Efrayim spoke, there was trembling;
he was a power in Isra’el.
But when he incurred guilt through Ba‘al,
he died.
²So now they keep adding sin to sin,
casting images from their silver;
idols they invent for themselves,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
‘Sacrifice to them,’ they say.
Men give kisses to calves!
³Therefore they will be like a morning cloud,
like the dew that disappears early,
like chaff blown by wind from the threshing-floor,
or like smoke that goes out the window.
⁴Still, I am Adonai your God,
from the land of Egypt;
and you don’t know any God but me
or, other than me, any Savior.
⁵I knew you in the desert,
in a land of terrible drought.
⁶When they were fed, they were satisfied;
when satisfied, they became proud.
Therefore they forgot me.
⁷So now I have become like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk by the road;
⁸I will meet them like a bear
whose cubs have been taken away.
I will tear their hearts from their bodies.
I will devour them there like a lion,
like a wild animal ripping them up.
⁹It is your destruction, Isra’el,
although your help is in me.
¹⁰So now, where is your king,
to save you in all your cities?
Where are your judges, of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and leaders’?
¹¹I gave you a king in my anger;
and in my fury I took him away.

¹²“Efrayim’s guilt has been wrapped up,
his sin is stored away.
¹³The pain of being born will come to him;
but he is an unwise son.
The time has come; and he shouldn’t delay,
there at the mouth of the womb.
¹⁴Should I ransom them from the power of Sh’ol?
Should I redeem them from death?
Where are your plagues, death;
where is your destruction, Sh’ol?
My eyes are closed to compassion.
¹⁵For though he flourishes among the reeds,
an east wind will come, a wind from Adonai,
blowing up from the desert.
Then his water source will dry up,
then his spring will fail —
it will plunder his treasury,
removing every precious thing.”