Hosea 13

New Catholic Bible

¹ When Ephraim spoke, the people trembled;
    he was exalted in Israel,
    but he incurred guilt by worshiping Baal, and died.
² And now the people continue to sin even more
    by casting images for themselves,
idols of silver fashioned after their own concept,
    all of them the work of artisans.
They say, “Offer sacrifices to these,”
    and people kiss the calf-idols.
³ Therefore, they will be like the morning mist
    or like the dew that quickly fades away,
like chaff that a storm drives from the threshing floor,
    or like smoke escaping through a window.

⁴ I am the Lord, your God,
    who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
You know no God but me,
    nor any savior other than me.
⁵ I cared for you in the desert,
    in the land of burning heat.
⁶ When I fed them, they were satisfied;
    when they were satisfied, they became proud of heart
    and quickly forgot me.
⁷ So now I will be like a lion to them;
    like a leopard I will lurk beside the road.
⁸ Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them
    and rip their hearts from their breasts.
Like a lion I will devour them;
    like a wild beast I will tear them apart.
⁹ You are destroyed, O Israel;
    who is there to help you?
¹⁰ Where now is your king
    that he may save you?
Where in all your cities are your rulers,
    about whom you said,
    “Give me a king and rulers”?
¹¹ I gave you a king in my anger,
    and in my wrath I took him away.^[a]

¹² The guilt of Ephraim is stored up;
    his sins are kept on record.
¹³ He experiences the pangs of childbirth,
    but he is a child lacking in wisdom.
When his time for birth arrives,
    he does not leave the womb.
¹⁴ Shall I deliver them from the power of the netherworld?^[b]
    Shall I redeem them from death?
O death, where are your plagues?
    O netherworld, where is your sting?
    Compassion will be banished from my sight.
¹⁵ Although Ephraim may be more fruitful than his brothers,
    an east wind^[c] from the Lord will come,
    rising from the desert,
causing his springs to be arid
    and his fountain to dry up.
His treasury will be plundered
    of every precious thing.