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Ephraim’s Idolatry

13 (A)When Ephraim [a]spoke, there was trembling.
He (B)lifted himself up in Israel,
But through (C)Baal he became guilty and died.
And now they sin more and more
And make for themselves (D)molten images,
Idols (E)made from their silver according to their understanding,
All of them the (F)work of craftsmen.
They are saying of them, “Let the [b]men who sacrifice kiss the (G)calves!”
Therefore they will be like the (H)morning cloud
And like dew which [c]soon disappears,
Like (I)chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor
And like (J)smoke from a [d]chimney.

Yet I have been (K)Yahweh your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know (L)any god except Me,
And there is no savior (M)besides Me.
I Myself (N)knew you in the wilderness,
(O)In the land of drought.
As they had their pasture, then they became (P)satisfied,
Indeed, they were satisfied, and their (Q)heart became raised up;
Therefore they (R)forgot Me.
So I will be (S)like a lion to them;
Like a (T)leopard I will [e]lie in wait by the wayside.
I will encounter them (U)like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open [f]the chest enclosing their heart;
There I will also (V)devour them like a lioness,
As a beast of the field would rip them open.

It is your ruin, O Israel,
[g]That you are (W)against Me, against your (X)help.
10 Where now is your (Y)king,
That he may save you in all your cities,
And your (Z)judges of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I (AA)gave you a king in My anger
And (AB)took him away in My wrath.

12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is (AC)stored up.
13 The pains of (AD)childbirth come upon him;
He is (AE)not a wise son,
For [h]it is not the time that he should (AF)delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I (AG)ransom them from the [i]power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
(AH)O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
(AI)Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

15 Though he (AJ)is fruitful among the [j]reeds,
An (AK)east wind will come,
The wind of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will (AL)become dry,
And his spring will be dried up;
It will (AM)plunder his treasury of every desirable article.
16 [k]Samaria will be held (AN)guilty,
For she has (AO)rebelled against her God.
(AP)They will fall by the (AQ)sword;
Their infants will be (AR)dashed in pieces,
And their pregnant (AS)women will be ripped open.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 13:1 Or spoke with trembling
  2. Hosea 13:2 Lit sacrificers of mankind
  3. Hosea 13:3 Lit goes away early
  4. Hosea 13:3 Lit window
  5. Hosea 13:7 Or watch
  6. Hosea 13:8 Lit the enclosure of their heart
  7. Hosea 13:9 Or But in Me is your help
  8. Hosea 13:13 Lit it is the time that he should not tarry at the breaking forth of children
  9. Hosea 13:14 Lit hand
  10. Hosea 13:15 Or brothers
  11. Hosea 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Heb