Hosea 13-14 (NIV84)

Hosea 13

The Lord ‘s Anger Against Israel

¹ When Ephraim spoke, men trembled;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.

² Now they sin more and more;
they make idols for themselves from their silver,
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of these people,
“They offer human sacrifice
and kiss ^[a]the calf-idols.”

³ Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,
like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,
like smoke escaping through a window.

⁴ “But I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out of ^[b] Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no Savior except 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;
then they forgot me.

⁷ So I will come upon them like a lion,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

⁸ Like a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will attack them and rip them open.
Like a lion I will devour them;
a wild animal will tear them apart.

⁹ “You are destroyed, O Israel,
because you are against me, against your helper.

¹⁰ Where is your king, that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?

¹¹ So in my anger I gave you a king,
and in my wrath I took him away.

¹² The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.

¹³ Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he does not come to the opening of the womb.

¹⁴ “I will ransom them from the power of the grave ^[c] ;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, ^[d] is your destruction?
“I will have no compassion,

¹⁵ even though he thrives among his brothers.
An east wind from the LORD will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.
His storehouse will be plundered
of all its treasures.

¹⁶ The people of Samaria must bear their guilt,
because they have rebelled against their God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open.”

Hosea 14

Repentance to Bring Blessing

¹ Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!

² Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips. ^[e]

³ Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount war-horses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.”

⁴ “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.

⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;

⁶ his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

⁷ Men will dwell again in his shade.
He will flourish like the grain.
He will blossom like a vine,
and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

⁸ O Ephraim, what more have I ^[f] to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a green pine tree;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”

⁹ Who is wise? He will realize these things.
Who is discerning? He will understand them.
The ways of the LORD are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.

Footnotes:

1. Hosea 13:2 Or “Men who sacrifice / kiss
2. Hosea 13:4 Or God / ever since you were in
3. Hosea 13:14 Hebrew Sheol
4. Hosea 13:14 Hebrew Sheol
5. Hosea 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls
6. Hosea 14:8 Or What more has Ephraim