Hosea 11-12 (NIV84)

Hosea 11

God’s Love for Israel

¹ “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.

² But the more I ^[a] called Israel,
the further they went from me. ^[b]
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.

³ It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.

⁴ I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love;
I lifted the yoke from their neck
and bent down to feed them.

⁵ “Will they not return to Egypt
and will not Assyria rule over them
because they refuse to repent?

⁶ Swords will flash in their cities,
will destroy the bars of their gates
and put an end to their plans.

⁷ My people are determined to turn from me.
Even if they call to the Most High,
he will by no means exalt them.

⁸ “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboiim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.

⁹ I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come in wrath. ^[c]

¹⁰ They will follow the LORD;
he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.

¹¹ They will come trembling
like birds from Egypt,
like doves from Assyria.
I will settle them in their homes,”
declares the LORD.

Israel’s Sin

¹² Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
the house of Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful Holy One.

Hosea 12

¹ Ephraim feeds on the wind;
he pursues the east wind all day
and multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a treaty with Assyria
and sends olive oil to Egypt.

² The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah;
he will punish Jacob ^[d] according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.

³ In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;
as a man he struggled with God.

⁴ He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel
and talked with him there-

⁵ the LORD God Almighty,
the LORD is his name of renown!

⁶ But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always.

⁷ The merchant uses dishonest scales;
he loves to defraud.

⁸ Ephraim boasts,
“I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth they will not find in me
any iniquity or sin.”

⁹ “I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out of ^[e] Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
as in the days of your appointed feasts.

¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables through them.”

¹¹ Is Gilead wicked?
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.

¹² Jacob fled to the country of Aram ^[f] ;
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.

¹³ The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,
by a prophet he cared for him.

¹⁴ But Ephraim has bitterly provoked him to anger;
his Lord will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed
and will repay him for his contempt.

Footnotes:

1. Hosea 11:2 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew they
2. Hosea 11:2 Septuagint; Hebrew them
3. Hosea 11:9 Or come against any city
4. Hosea 12:2 Jacob means he grasps the heel (figuratively, he deceives ).
5. Hosea 12:9 Or God / ever since you were in
6. Hosea 12:12 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia