Hosea 13-14

English Standard Version

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

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

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

^14 (AD)I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    ^(AE)I shall redeem them from Death.^[c]
(AF)O ^(AG)Death, where are your plagues?
    ^(AH)O ^(AI)Sheol, where is your sting?
    ^(AJ)Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

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

⁴ I ^(BA)will heal their apostasy;
    ^(BB)I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
^5 (BC)I will be like the dew to Israel;
    ^(BD)he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees ^(BE)of Lebanon;
⁶ his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be ^(BF)like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷ They shall return and ^(BG)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.

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

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