Hosea 13

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

When Ephraim spoke, a horror seized Israel: and he sinned in Baal and died.

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 they have sinned more and more: and they have made to themselves a molten thing of their silver as the likeness of idols: the whole is the work of craftsmen: to these that say: Sacrifice men, ye that adore calves.

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.

Therefore they shall be as a morning aloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the dust that is driven with a whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

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 thy God from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt know no God but me, and there is no saviour beside me.

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

I knew thee in the desert, in the land of the wilderness.

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

According to their pastures they were filled, and were made full: and they lifted up their heart, and have forgotten me.

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

And I will be to them as a lioness, as a leopard in the way of the Assyrians.

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 meet them as a bear that is robbed of her whelps, and I will rend the inner parts of their liver: and I will devour them there as a lion, the beast of the field shall tear them.

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

Destruction is thy own, O Israel: thy help is only in me.

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 thy king? now especially let him save thee in all thy cities: and thy judges, of whom thou saidst: Give me kings and princes.

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

I will give thee a king in my wrath, and will take him away in my indignation.

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

The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is hidden.

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 sorrows of a woman in labour snail come upon him, he is an unwise son: for now he shall not stand in the breach of the children.

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 deliver them out of the hand of death. I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy death; O hell, I will be thy bite: comfort is hidden from my eyes. (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.

Because he shall make a separation between brothers: the Lord will bring a burning wind that shall rise from the desert, and it shall dry up his springs, and shall make his fountain desolate, and he shall carry off the treasure of every desirable vessel.

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!”

Let Samaria perish, because she hath stirred up her God to bitterness: let them perish by the sword, let their little ones be dashed, and let the women with child be ripped up.