Osee 7

1 When I have healed Israel, then shall the iniquity of Ephraim be revealed, and the wickedness of Samaria; for they have wrought falsehood: and a thief shall come in to him, [even] a robber spoiling in his way;

“and when I wanted to heal them [again], [I did not do it, ] [because] I saw the wicked things that [the people of] Samaria [city] and [other places in] Israel [DOU] have done. They constantly deceive others; bandits rob people in the streets.

2 that they may concert together as [men] singing in their heart: I remember all their wickedness: now have their own counsels compassed them about; they came before my face.

But they do not realize that I do not forget all the evil things that they do. [It is as though] they are surrounded by [all] the sins that they commit; and [it is though] those sins are [always right] in front of me [MTY].

3 They gladdened kings with their wickedness, and princes with their lies.

Their king is delighted with the wicked things that the people do; his officials are happy about the people’s lies.

4 They are all adulterers, as an oven glowing with flame for hot-baking, on account of the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.

[The king and his officials] are all treacherous. [They are always eager to do wicked things; ] they are like [SIM] an oven that is [very] hot: a baker mixes the dough and waits for it to expand, and he does not [need to] cause the oven to become hotter.

5 [In] the days of our kings, the princes began to be inflamed with wine: he stretched out his hand with pestilent fellows.

The king and his officials get very drunk during their festivals, carousing with others who also do foolish things.

6 Therefore their hearts are inflamed as an oven, while they rage all the night: Ephraim is satisfied with sleep; the morning is come; he is burnt up as a flame of fire.

The officials angrily plan to murder the king; it is like [SIM] they have an oven in their inner beings. All during the night their [eagerness/wanting to murder the king] is like a fire that is smouldering, but in the morning it becomes like [MET] a roaring fire.

7 They are all heated like an oven, and have devoured their judges: all their kings are fallen; there was not among them one that called on me.

All those officials are like [MET] hot flames that completely burn up their rulers, so all their kings are murdered, and no one pleads with me [to help them].”

8 Ephraim is mixed among his people; Ephraim became a cake not turned.

“[The leaders of] Israel join with leaders of [godless] nations; so [the leaders of] Israel are [as worthless as] a pancake that is cooked on only one side.

9 Strangers devoured his strength, and he knew [it] not; and grey hairs came upon him, and he knew [it] not.

Joining with the rulers of foreign nations has caused Israel to be a weak [nation], but the Israelis do not realize that. Israel has become [like] [MET] a gray-haired old man, but the people of Israel do not realize it.

10 And the pride of Israel shall be brought down before his face: yet they have not returned to the Lord their God, neither have they diligently sought him for all this.

Their being proud [PRS] testifies against them, but in spite of that, they do not return to [me], Yahweh, their God, or [even] try to know me.

11 And Ephraim was as a silly dove, not having a heart: he called to Egypt, and they went to the Assyrians.

[The people of] Israel have become foolish and stupid like [SIM] doves. [First] they called out to Egypt [to help them], [and then] they sought help from Assyria.

12 Whenever they shall go, I will cast my net upon them; I will bring them down as the birds of the sky, I will chasten them with the rumor of their [coming] affliction.

But wherever they go [to get help], [I will not allow them to succeed]; [it will be as though] [MET] I will throw a net over them like [SIM] [a hunter uses a net to capture] birds; I will punish them for the evil things that they do.

13 Woe to them! for they have started aside from me: they are cowards; for they have sinned against me: yet I redeemed them, but they spoke falsehoods against me.

Terrible things will happen to them because they abandoned/deserted me! They will be destroyed because they rebelled against me. I wanted to rescue them, but they tell lies about me.

14 And their hearts did not cry to me, but they howled on their beds: they pined for oil and wine.

They do not cry out to me sincerely [IDM]; they [only] lie on their beds and wail. They gather together and ask [me to give them] grain and wine, but they turn away from me.

15 They were instructed by me, and I strengthened their arms; and they devised evils against me.

I trained/taught them and enabled them to become strong, but now they plan [to do] evil things to me.

16 They turned aside to that which is not, they became as a bent bow: their princes shall fall by the sword, by reason of the unbridled state of their tongue: this is their setting at nothing in the land of Egypt.

They have rejected me, their Great God, and turned to their god Baal; they are [as useless] as [SIM] a crooked bow. Their leaders boast [that they are very strong], but they will be killed by [their enemies’] swords. As a result, [the people of] Egypt will laugh at them.”