Hosea 13

Translated from the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Tap a verse to see why it reads as it does. Tap a small letter to read its footnote.

This is the Balanced text at the default settings. The notes, the reasoning behind each verse and the reader settings need JavaScript..disputed-note .fn-pop-more { display: none; }

Ephraim’s idols

¹When Ephraim spoke, people trembled; \q he was exalted in Israel. \q But he became guilty through Baal, and he died. ²Now they sin more and more and have made themselves a cast image from their silver, idols shaped by their own skill, \q every one of them the work of craftsmen. \q People say of them, \q “Human beings who offer sacrifice kiss calves!” ³So they will be like the morning mist, \q like the dew that vanishes early, \q like chaff swept by a storm from the threshing floor, \q like smoke drifting out through a window. ⁴But I am the LORD your God, and have been since the land of Egypt; \q you are to know no god but me, \q and there is no savior except me. ⁵I cared for you in the wilderness, \q in a land of burning drought. ⁶When they had pasture, they ate their fill; \q they were full, and their hearts grew proud; \q that is why they forgot me. ⁷So I have become like a lion to them; \q like a leopard I will lurk beside the road. ⁸I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs \q and tear open their chests; \q I will devour them there like a lioness; \q wild animals will tear them to pieces. ⁹You are destroyed, Israel, \q because you are against me, your helper. ¹⁰Where is your king now, \q who could save you in all your cities? \q Where are your rulers, of whom you said, \q “Give me a king and officials”? ¹¹I give you a king in my anger, \q and in my fury I take him away.

¹²Ephraim’s guilt is wrapped up; \q his sin is kept in store. ¹³The pains of childbirth come upon him, \q but he is a child without sense; \q when the time comes, he does not move into the opening of the womb. ¹⁴Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? \q Shall I redeem them from death? \q O death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? \q Compassion is hidden from my eyes. ¹⁵Though he thrives among his brothers, \q an east wind will come, a wind of the LORD blowing up from the desert; \q his spring will fail and his fountain dry up. \q An enemy will plunder his storehouse of every treasure.