Hosea 13

1 “When Ephraim speaks tremblingly, He has been lifted up in Israel, When he becomes guilty in Ba‘al he dies.

When the words of my law came from Ephraim, he was lifted up in Israel; but when he did evil through the Baal, death overtook him.

2 And now they sin, And make for themselves a molten image of their silver, By their own understanding—idols, A work of artisans—all of it, Of them they say, who [are] sacrificers among men, The calves let them kiss.

And now their sins are increased; they have made themselves a metal image, false gods from their silver, after their designs, all of them the work of the metal-workers; they say of them, Let them give offerings, let men give kisses to the oxen.

3 Therefore they are as a cloud of the morning, And as dew, rising early, going away, As chaff tossed about out of a floor, And as smoke out of a window.

So they will be like the morning cloud, like the dew which goes early away, like the dust of the grain which the wind is driving out of the crushing-floor, like smoke going up from the fireplace.

4 And I [am] your God YHWH from the land of Egypt, And you do not know a God besides Me, And a Savior—there is none except Me.

But I am the Lord your God, from the land of Egypt; you have knowledge of no other God and there is no saviour but me.

5 I have known you in a wilderness, In a land of droughts.

I had knowledge of you in the waste land where no water was.

6 They are satiated according to their feedings, They have been satiated, And their heart is lifted up, Therefore they have forgotten Me,

When I gave them food they were full, and their hearts were full of pride, and they did not keep me in mind.

7 And I am to them as a lion, I look out as a leopard by the way.

So I will be like a lion to them; as a cruel beast I will keep watch by the road;

8 I meet them as a bereaved bear, And I tear the enclosure of their heart, And I consume them there as a lioness, A beast of the field tears them.

I will come face to face with them like a bear whose young ones have been taken from her, and their inmost hearts will be broken; there the dogs will make a meal of them; they will be wounded by the beasts of the field.

9 You have destroyed yourself, O Israel, But in Me [is] your help;

I have sent destruction on you, O Israel; who will be your helper?

10 Where [is] your king now—And he saves you in all your cities? And your judges of whom you said, Give a king and heads to me?

Where is your king, that he may be your saviour? and all your rulers, that they may take up your cause? of whom you said, Give me a king and rulers.

11 I give to you a king in My anger, And I take away in My wrath.

I have given you a king, because I was angry, and have taken him away in my wrath.

12 Bound up [is] the iniquity of Ephraim, Hidden [is] his sin,

The wrongdoing of Ephraim is shut up; his sin is put away in secret.

13 Pangs of a travailing woman come to him, He [is] not a wise son, For he does not remain [at] the time for the breaking forth of sons.

The pains of a woman in childbirth will come on him: he is an unwise son, for at this time it is not right for him to keep his place when children come to birth.

14 Will I ransom them from the hand of Sheol? Will I redeem them from death? Where [is] your plague, O death? Where your destruction, O Sheol? Comfort is hid from My eyes. (Sheol h7585)

I will give the price to make them free from the power of the underworld, I will be their saviour from death: O death! where are your pains? O underworld! where is your destruction? my eyes will have no pity. (Sheol h7585)

15 Though he produces fruit among brothers, An east wind comes in, a wind of YHWH, From a wilderness it is coming up, And it dries up his fountain, And his spring becomes dry, It—it spoils a treasure—every desirable vessel.

Though he gives fruit among his brothers, an east wind will come, the wind of the Lord coming up from the waste land, and his spring will become dry, his fountain will be without water: it will make waste the store of all the vessels of his desire.

16 Samaria becomes desolate, Because she has been rebellious against her God, They fall by sword, Their sucklings are dashed in pieces, And its pregnant ones are ripped up!”

Samaria will be made waste, for she has gone against her God: they will be cut down by the sword, their little children will be broken on the rocks, their women who are with child will be cut open.