“Ephraim (A)has mixed himself among the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake unturned.
(B)Aliens have devoured his strength,
But he does not know it;
Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him,
Yet he does not know it.
10 And the (C)pride of Israel testifies to his face,
But (D)they do not return to the Lord their God,
Nor seek Him for all this.

Futile Reliance on the Nations

11 “Ephraim(E) also is like a silly dove, without [a]sense—
(F)They call to Egypt,
They go to (G)Assyria.
12 Wherever they go, I will (H)spread My net on them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will chastise them
(I)According to what their congregation has heard.

13 “Woe to them, for they have fled from Me!
Destruction to them,
Because they have transgressed against Me!
Though (J)I redeemed them,
Yet they have spoken lies against Me.
14 (K)They did not cry out to Me with their heart
When they wailed upon their beds.

“They [b]assemble together for grain and new (L)wine,
[c]They rebel against Me;
15 Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms,
Yet they devise evil against Me;
16 They return, but not [d]to the Most High;
(M)They are like a treacherous bow.
Their princes shall fall by the sword
For the (N)cursings of their tongue.
This shall be their derision (O)in the land of Egypt.

The Apostasy of Israel

Set the [e]trumpet to your mouth!
He shall come (P)like an eagle against the house of the Lord,
Because they have transgressed My covenant
And rebelled against My law.
(Q)Israel will cry to Me,
‘My God, (R)we know You!’
Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.

“They(S) set up kings, but not by Me;
They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.
From their silver and gold
They made idols for themselves—
That they might be cut off.
Your [f]calf [g]is rejected, O Samaria!
My anger is aroused against them—
(T)How long until they attain to innocence?
For from Israel is even this:
A (U)workman made it, and it is not God;
But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.

“They(V) sow the wind,
And reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no bud;
It shall never produce meal.
If it should produce,
(W)Aliens would swallow it up.
(X)Israel is swallowed up;
Now they are among the Gentiles
(Y)Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.
For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like (Z)a wild donkey alone by itself;
Ephraim (AA)has hired lovers.
10 Yes, though they have hired among the nations,
Now (AB)I will gather them;
And they shall [h]sorrow a little,
Because of the [i]burden of (AC)the king of princes.

11 “Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin,
They have become for him altars for sinning.
12 I have written for him (AD)the great things of My law,
But they were considered a strange thing.
13 For the sacrifices of My offerings (AE)they sacrifice flesh and eat it,
(AF)But the Lord does not accept them.
(AG)Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
They shall return to Egypt.

14 “For(AH) Israel has forgotten (AI)his Maker,
And has built [j]temples;
Judah also has multiplied (AJ)fortified cities;
But (AK)I will send fire upon his cities,
And it shall devour his [k]palaces.”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 7:11 Lit. heart
  2. Hosea 7:14 So with MT, Tg.; Vg. thought upon; LXX slashed themselves for (cf. 1 Kin. 18:28)
  3. Hosea 7:14 So with MT, Syr., Tg.; LXX omits They rebel against Me; Vg. They departed from Me
  4. Hosea 7:16 Or upward
  5. Hosea 8:1 ram’s horn, Heb. shophar
  6. Hosea 8:5 Golden calf image
  7. Hosea 8:5 Or has rejected you
  8. Hosea 8:10 Or begin to diminish
  9. Hosea 8:10 Or oracle or proclamation
  10. Hosea 8:14 Or palaces
  11. Hosea 8:14 Or citadels

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