Hosea 7 (New American Standard Bible)

Hosea 7

Ephraim's Iniquity

    ¹When I ^(A)would heal Israel,
         The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,
         And the evil deeds of Samaria,
         For they deal ^(B)falsely;
         The thief enters in,
         ^(C)Bandits raid outside,
    ²And they do not consider in their hearts
         That I ^(D)remember all their wickedness
         Now their ^(E)deeds are all around them;
         They are before My face.
    ^3(F)With their wickedness they make the ^(G)king glad,
         And the princes with their ^(H)lies.
    ⁴They are ^(I)all adulterers,
         Like an oven heated by the baker
         Who ceases to stir up the fire
         From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
    ⁵On the day of our king, the princes ^(J)became sick with the heat of wine;
         He stretched out his hand with ^(K)scoffers,
    ⁶For their hearts are like an ^(L)oven
         As they approach their plotting;
         Their anger smolders all night,
         In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
    ⁷All of them are hot like an oven,
         And they consume their ^(M)rulers;
         All their kings have fallen
         ^(N)None of them calls on Me.
    ⁸Ephraim ^(O)mixes himself with the nations;
         Ephraim has become a cake not turned.
    ^9(P)Strangers devour his strength,
         Yet he ^(Q)does not know it;
         Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him,
         Yet he does not know it.
    ¹⁰Though the ^(R)pride of Israel testifies against him,
         Yet ^(S)they have not returned to the LORD their God,
         Nor have they sought Him, for all this.
    ¹¹So ^(T)Ephraim has become like a silly dove, ^(U)without sense;
         They call to ^(V)Egypt, they go to ^(W)Assyria.
    ¹²When they go, I will ^(X)spread My net over them;
         I will bring them down like the birds of the sky
         I will ^(Y)chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly.
    ^13(Z)Woe to them, for they have ^(AA)strayed from Me!
         Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!
         I ^(AB)would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.
    ¹⁴And ^(AC)they do not cry to Me from their heart
         When they wail on their beds;
         For the sake of grain and new wine they ^(AD)assemble themselves,
         They ^(AE)turn away from Me.
    ¹⁵Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
         Yet they ^(AF)devise evil against Me.
    ¹⁶They turn, but not upward,
         They are like a ^(AG)deceitful bow;
         Their princes will fall by the sword
         Because of the ^(AH)insolence of their tongue
         This will be their ^(AI)derision in the land of Egypt.