Hosea 12:12-14:9

English Standard Version

¹²^(A)Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
    there Israel ^(B)served for a wife,
    and for a wife he guarded sheep.
¹³By ^(C)a prophet ^(D)the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
    and by a prophet he was guarded.
¹⁴^(E)Ephraim has given bitter provocation;
    so his Lord ^(F)will leave his bloodguilt on him
    ^(G)and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
    ^(H)he was exalted in Israel,
    but he incurred guilt ^(I)through Baal and died.
²And now they sin more and more,
    and ^(J)make for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
    ^(K)all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
    “Those who offer human sacrifice ^(L)kiss calves!”
³Therefore they shall be ^(M)like the morning mist
    or ^(N)like the dew that goes early away,
^(O)like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
    or ^(P)like smoke from a window.

⁴But ^(Q)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
^(R)you know no God but me,
    and ^(S)besides me there is no savior.
⁵^(T)It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
⁶^(U)but when they had grazed,^[a] they became full,
    ^(V)they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    ^(W)therefore they forgot me.
⁷So ^(X)I am to them like a lion;
    ^(Y)like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
⁸I will fall upon them ^(Z)like a bear robbed of her cubs;
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    ^(AA)as a wild beast would rip them open.

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

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

¹⁴^(AK)I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    ^(AL)I shall redeem them from Death.^[c]
^(AM)O ^(AN)Death, where are your plagues?
    ^(AO)O ^(AP)Sheol, where is your sting?
    ^(AQ)Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵Though ^(AR)he may flourish among his brothers,
    ^(AS)the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
    rising from the wilderness,
^(AT)and his fountain shall dry up;
    his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ^(AU)his treasury
    of every precious thing.
¹⁶^[d] Samaria ^(AV)shall bear her guilt,
    because ^(AW)she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
    ^(AX)their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
    and their ^(AY)pregnant women ripped open.

A Plea to Return to the Lord

14 ^(AZ)Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
    for ^(BA)you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
²Take with you words
    and return to the Lord;
say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
accept ^(BB)what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    ^(BC)the vows^[e] of our lips.
³^(BD)Assyria shall not save us;
    ^(BE)we will not ride on horses;
and ^(BF)we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
^(BG)In you the orphan finds mercy.”

⁴I ^(BH)will heal their apostasy;
    ^(BI)I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
⁵^(BJ)I will be like the dew to Israel;
    ^(BK)he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees ^(BL)of Lebanon;
⁶his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be ^(BM)like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷They shall return and ^(BN)dwell beneath my^[f] shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

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

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

Footnotes

Hosea 13:6 Hebrew according to their pasture
Hosea 13:9 Or I will destroy
Hosea 13:14 Or Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death?
Hosea 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Hebrew
Hosea 14:2 Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit
Hosea 14:7 Hebrew his
Hosea 14:8 Hebrew him