Hosea 13
1 “When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but he became guilty because of Baal worship, and he died.
“When Ephraim speaks tremblingly, He has been lifted up in Israel, When he becomes guilty in Ba‘al he dies.
2 Now they sin more and more. They make cast metal figures from their silver, idols as skillfully worked as possible, all of them the work of the craftsmen. People say of them, 'These men who sacrifice kiss calves.'
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.
3 So they will be like the morning clouds, like the dew that goes away early, like the chaff that is driven by the wind away from a threshing floor, and like smoke out of a chimney.
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.
4 But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. You must acknowledge no God but me; you must acknowledge that besides me, there is no other savior.
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.
5 I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great dryness.
I have known you in a wilderness, In a land of droughts.
6 When you had pasture, then you became full; and when you were filled, your heart became lifted up. For that reason you forgot me.
They are satiated according to their feedings, They have been satiated, And their heart is lifted up, Therefore they have forgotten Me,
7 I will become like a lion to them; like a leopard I will watch along the path.
And I am to them as a lion, I look out as a leopard by the way.
8 I will attack them as a bear that is robbed of her cubs. I will rip open their chests, and there I will devour them as a lion, as a wild beast would tear them to pieces.
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.
9 I will destroy you, Israel; who will be able to help you?
You have destroyed yourself, O Israel, But in Me [is] your help;
10 Where now is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are your rulers, about whom you said to me, 'Give me a king and princes'?
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?
11 I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath.
I give to you a king in My anger, And I take away in My wrath.
12 Ephraim's iniquity has been stored up; his guilt has been stored up.
Bound up [is] the iniquity of Ephraim, Hidden [is] his sin,
13 Pains of childbirth will come on him, but he is an unwise son, for when it is time to be born, he does not come out of the womb.
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.
14 Will I rescue them from the hand of Sheol? Will I rescue them from death? Where, death, are your plagues? Where, Sheol, is your destruction? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.” (Sheol h7585)
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)
15 Though Ephraim is prosperous among his brothers, an east wind will come; the wind of Yahweh will blow in from the wilderness. Ephraim's spring will dry up, and his well will have no water. His enemy will plunder his storehouse of every precious object.
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.
16 Samaria will be guilty, for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their young children will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.
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!”
