Hosea 13-14

New International Version

The Lord’s Anger Against Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;^(A)
    he was exalted^(B) in Israel.
    But he became guilty of Baal worship^(C) and died.
²Now they sin more and more;
    they make^(D) idols for themselves from their silver,^(E)
cleverly fashioned images,
    all of them the work of craftsmen.^(F)
It is said of these people,
    “They offer human sacrifices!
    They kiss^[a]^(G) calf-idols!^(H)”
³Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears,^(I)
    like chaff^(J) swirling from a threshing floor,^(K)
    like smoke^(L) escaping through a window.

⁴“But I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt.^(M)
You shall acknowledge^(N) no God but me,^(O)
    no Savior^(P) except me.
⁵I cared for you in the wilderness,^(Q)
    in the land of burning heat.
⁶When I fed them, they were satisfied;
    when they were satisfied, they became proud;^(R)
    then they forgot^(S) me.^(T)
⁷So I will be like a lion^(U) to them,
    like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
⁸Like a bear robbed of her cubs,^(V)
    I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion^(W) I will devour them—
    a wild animal will tear them apart.^(X)

⁹“You are destroyed, Israel,
    because you are against me,^(Y) against your helper.^(Z)
¹⁰Where is your king,^(AA) that he may save you?
    Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
    ‘Give me a king and princes’?^(AB)
¹¹So in my anger I gave you a king,^(AC)
    and in my wrath I took him away.^(AD)
¹²The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
    his sins are kept on record.^(AE)
¹³Pains as of a woman in childbirth^(AF) come to him,
    but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time^(AG) arrives,
    he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.^(AH)

¹⁴“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;^(AI)
I will redeem them from death.^(AJ)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?^(AK)

“I will have no compassion,
¹⁵    even though he thrives^(AL) among his brothers.
An east wind^(AM) from the Lord will come,
    blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
    and his well dry up.^(AN)
His storehouse will be plundered^(AO)
    of all its treasures.
¹⁶The people of Samaria^(AP) must bear their guilt,^(AQ)
    because they have rebelled^(AR) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;^(AS)
    their little ones will be dashed^(AT) to the ground,
    their pregnant women^(AU) ripped open.”^[b]

Repentance to Bring Blessing

14 ^[c]Return,^(AV) Israel, to the Lord your God.
    Your sins^(AW) have been your downfall!^(AX)
²Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    “Forgive^(AY) all our sins
and receive us graciously,^(AZ)
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips.^[d]^(BA)
³Assyria cannot save us;^(BB)
    we will not mount warhorses.^(BC)
We will never again say ‘Our gods’^(BD)
    to what our own hands have made,^(BE)
    for in you the fatherless^(BF) find compassion.”

⁴“I will heal^(BG) their waywardness^(BH)
    and love them freely,^(BI)
    for my anger has turned away^(BJ) from them.
⁵I will be like the dew^(BK) to Israel;
    he will blossom like a lily.^(BL)
Like a cedar of Lebanon^(BM)
    he will send down his roots;^(BN)
⁶    his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,^(BO)
    his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.^(BP)
⁷People will dwell again in his shade;^(BQ)
    they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom^(BR) like the vine—
    Israel’s fame will be like the wine^(BS) of Lebanon.^(BT)
⁸Ephraim, what more have I^[e] to do with idols?^(BU)
    I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;^(BV)
    your fruitfulness comes from me.”

⁹Who is wise?^(BW) Let them realize these things.
    Who is discerning? Let them understand.^(BX)
The ways of the Lord are right;^(BY)
    the righteous walk^(BZ) in them,
    but the rebellious stumble in them.