Add parallel Print Page Options

God Accuses Israel

“When I was healing Israel,
Ephraim’s sin was uncovered,
        along with Samaria’s wickedness.
While they craft lying schemes,
    the thief invades,
        and the gang of thieves plunders outside.
It never occurs to them that I remember all their sin.
    Now their actions have caught up with them,
        and they have my attention.[a]
They please the king with their evil,
    and the princes with their dishonesty.
All of them are adulterers—
    they burn like an oven prepared by the baker,
who has ceased stoking it
    until the dough is leavened.

“On the king’s festival day
    the princes got drunk from wine,
        so the king[b] joined the mockers.
For they have stirred up themselves[c] like an oven
    as they lie in ambush.
Their baker sleeps through the night;
    in the morning, the oven[d] will be blazing like a fire.
They all burn like an oven;
    they have consumed their judges;
all their kings have fallen—
    not even one of them calls on me.

“Ephraim compromises with[e] the nations;
    he’s a half-baked cake.[f]
Foreigners have consumed his strength,
    and he hasn’t noticed.
Furthermore, his head is sprinkled with gray hair,
    but he doesn’t realize it.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him;[g]
    but they do not return to the Lord their God,
        nor seek him in all of this.

11 “Ephraim is also like a silly dove,
    lacking sense:[h]
They call out to Egypt,
    and turn toward Assyria.
12 When they go,
    I’ll cast my net over them.
I’ll bring them down, as one shoots[i] birds in the sky.
    I’ll chasten them,
        as the assembly has already heard.
13 Woe to them—
    because they have run away from me.
Ruin to them—
    because they have sinned against me.
Even though I redeemed them,
    they spread lies against me.
14 They will not cry to me from their heart—
    instead, they wail on their beds.
They gather together to eat and drink,[j]
    turning away from me.

15 “Though I have taught them
    and strengthened their arms,
        nevertheless they plot evil against me.
16 They return—but not to the Most High.
    They are like a defective weapon.[k]
Their princes will fall by the sword
    because of their raging tongue,
        and they will be a laughingstock in the land of Egypt.”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 7:2 Lit. they are before my face
  2. Hosea 7:5 Lit. so he
  3. Hosea 7:6 Lit. up their heart
  4. Hosea 7:6 Lit. morning, it
  5. Hosea 7:8 Or dilutes himself among
  6. Hosea 7:8 Lit. a cake not turned
  7. Hosea 7:10 Lit. testifies in his face
  8. Hosea 7:11 Lit. heart
  9. Hosea 7:12 The Heb. lacks one shoots
  10. Hosea 7:14 Lit. together for grain and fresh wine
  11. Hosea 7:16 Lit. bow

whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
    and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(A)
They practice deceit,(B)
    thieves break into houses,(C)
    bandits rob in the streets;(D)
but they do not realize
    that I remember(E) all their evil deeds.(F)
Their sins engulf them;(G)
    they are always before me.

“They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.(H)
They are all adulterers,(I)
    burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
    from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
On the day of the festival of our king
    the princes become inflamed with wine,(J)
    and he joins hands with the mockers.(K)
Their hearts are like an oven;(L)
    they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(M)
    and none of them calls(N) on me.

“Ephraim mixes(O) with the nations;
    Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
Foreigners sap his strength,(P)
    but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
    but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(Q)
    but despite all this
he does not return(R) to the Lord his God
    or search(S) for him.

11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(T)
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(U)
    now turning to Assyria.(V)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(W) over them;
    I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
    I will catch them.
13 Woe(X) to them,
    because they have strayed(Y) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me(Z) falsely.(AA)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(AB)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[a] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,(AC)
    but they turn away from me.(AD)
15 I trained(AE) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil(AF) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(AG)
    they are like a faulty bow.(AH)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent(AI) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(AJ)
    in the land of Egypt.(AK)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together