Font Size
Hosea 13
EasyEnglish Bible
Hosea 13
EasyEnglish Bible
The Lord is angry with Israel
13 In past times, when the leaders of Israel spoke, the people were afraid.[a]
The people respected their leaders.
But the people became guilty when they worshipped Baal.
Because of that, they died.
2 Now the Israelites continue to do more and more sins.
They use metal to make idols for themselves.
They use clever skills to make idols from silver.
All their idols are only things that people have made themselves.
People offer sacrifices to the image of a calf.
They say, ‘Kiss the calf!’
3 So those people will soon disappear!
They will quickly disappear like mist or dew in the morning.
They will be like chaff that the wind blows away from a threshing floor.
They will be like smoke that disappears out of an open window.[b]
4 The Lord says,
‘I am the Lord your God.
I brought you out from Egypt.
You must not serve any other God.
No one else can save you except me.
5 I took care of you in the wilderness,
where it was very hot and dry.
6 I gave food to my people, so that they were not hungry.
But when they had enough to eat, they became proud.
As a result, they forgot about me.[c]
7 So I will attack them like a lion.
I will be like a leopard that waits beside the road.
It is ready to catch anything that goes that way.
8 I will attack them like an angry bear that has lost her children.
I will tear them into pieces.
I will eat them like a hungry lion.
I will attack them and kill them, like a wild animal.
9 I will destroy you, Israel.
There will be nobody to help you.
10 What has happened to your king?
He cannot save you!
Where are your rulers?
You asked me to give you rulers like the other nations have.
You said, “Give us a king and rulers.”
11 I was angry, but I agreed to give you a king.
Now I am even more angry and I will take your king away!
12 I have a record of Ephraim's sin.
Ephraim's people will certainly receive their punishment.
13 They will be in pain like a woman who is giving birth.
Her child is foolish. He refuses to be born!
14 Will I save these people from the power of death?
Will I rescue them from their graves?
Death, what diseases can you bring?
What can you do to hurt my people?[d]
I will not be kind to my people and forgive them.’
15 Among the other nations, Israel has been successful.
It has been like a plant that grows well.
But now the Lord will send trouble.
It will be like a strong east wind that comes from the desert.
Israel's wells and springs of water will become dry.
All the valuable things that Israel has stored will disappear.
16 Samaria's people are guilty and they will receive their punishment.[e]
They have turned against their God.
They will die in war.
Cruel enemies will kill their young children.
Soldiers will cut open their pregnant women.
Footnotes
- 13:1 Ephraim was the Israelite kingdom in the north. Judah was the Israelite kingdom in the south.
- 13:3 Mist is like a cloud near the ground. It makes small drops of water on the ground, called dew. These usually come early in the morning and they do not stay for a long time. Chaff and smoke also quickly disappear.
- 13:6 God gave the Israelites everything that they needed in the wilderness. See Exodus 16. It was God who fed them and gave them water. But they turned away from him.
- 13:14 Hosea says that God will bring trouble and death to his people because of their sins. Paul uses these words in 1 Corinthians 15:55. Because of Jesus' death, Paul says that the power of death can no longer hurt believers.
- 13:16 Samaria was another name for the northern kingdom, Israel. It was the capital city of Israel.
Hosea 13
New International Version
Hosea 13
New International Version
The Lord’s Anger Against Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;(A)
he was exalted(B) in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship(C) and died.
2 Now they sin more and more;
they make(D) idols for themselves from their silver,(E)
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.(F)
It is said of these people,
“They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss[a](G) calf-idols!(H)”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,(I)
like chaff(J) swirling from a threshing floor,(K)
like smoke(L) escaping through a window.
4 “But I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.(M)
You shall acknowledge(N) no God but me,(O)
no Savior(P) except me.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness,(Q)
in the land of burning heat.
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;(R)
then they forgot(S) me.(T)
7 So I will be like a lion(U) to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs,(V)
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion(W) I will devour them—
a wild animal will tear them apart.(X)
9 “You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me,(Y) against your helper.(Z)
10 Where is your king,(AA) that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?(AB)
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,(AC)
and in my wrath I took him away.(AD)
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.(AE)
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth(AF) come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time(AG) arrives,
he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.(AH)
14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;(AI)
I will redeem them from death.(AJ)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?(AK)
“I will have no compassion,
15 even though he thrives(AL) among his brothers.
An east wind(AM) from the Lord will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.(AN)
His storehouse will be plundered(AO)
of all its treasures.
16 The people of Samaria(AP) must bear their guilt,(AQ)
because they have rebelled(AR) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;(AS)
their little ones will be dashed(AT) to the ground,
their pregnant women(AU) ripped open.”[b]
Footnotes
- Hosea 13:2 Or “Men who sacrifice / kiss
- Hosea 13:16 In Hebrew texts this verse (13:16) is numbered 14:1.
EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.