Hosea 12-14

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

12 Ephraim herds the wind
    and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence;
    they make a treaty with Assyria,
    and oil is carried to Egypt.^(A)

⁷ A trader in whose hands are false balances,
    he loves to oppress.^(F)
8 Ephraim has said, “Ah, I am rich;
    I have gained wealth for myself;
in all of my gain
    no offense has been found in me
    that would be sin.”^[b](G)
9 I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
    as in the days of the appointed festival.^(H)

¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets;
    it was I who multiplied visions,
    and through the prophets I will bring destruction.^(I)
11 In^[c] Gilead there is iniquity;
    they shall surely come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
    so their altars shall be like stone heaps
    on the furrows of the field.^(J)
12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
    there Israel served for a wife,
    and for a wife he guarded sheep.^[d](K)
13 By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
    and by a prophet he was guarded.^(L)
14 Ephraim has given bitter offense,
    so his Lord will bring his crimes down on him
    and pay him back for his insults.^(M)

⁴ Yet I have been the Lord your God
    ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
    and besides me there is no savior.^(Q)
5 It was I who fed^[f] you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought.^(R)
6 When I fed^[g] them, they were satisfied;
    they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
    therefore they forgot me.^(S)
7 So I will become like a lion to them;
    like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.^(T)
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs
    and will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
    as a wild animal would mangle them.

⁹ I will destroy you, O Israel;
    who can help you?^[h]
10 Where now is^[i] your king, that he may save you?
    Where in all your cities are your rulers,
of whom you said,
    “Give me a king and rulers”?^(U)
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
    and I took him away in my wrath.^(V)

¹² Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up;
    his sin is kept in store.^(W)
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
    but he is an unwise son,
for at the proper time he does not present himself
    at the mouth of the womb.^(X)

¹⁴ Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
    Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are^[j] your plagues?
    O Sheol, where is^[k] your destruction?
    Compassion is hidden from my eyes.^(Y)

¹⁵ Although he may flourish among rushes,^[l]
    the east wind shall come, a blast from the Lord,
    rising from the wilderness,
and his fountain shall dry up;
    his spring shall be parched.
It shall strip his treasury
    of every precious thing.^(Z)
16 [m]Samaria shall bear her guilt
    because she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
    their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
    and their pregnant women ripped open.^(AA)

⁸ O Ephraim, what have I^[r] to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.^[s]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
    your fruit comes from me.^(AI)
9 Those who are wise understand these things;
    those who are discerning know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
    and the upright walk in them,
    but transgressors stumble in them.^(AJ)