Hosea 13:4-14

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁴ Yet I have been the Lord your God
    ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
    and besides me there is no savior.^(A)
5 It was I who fed^[a] you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought.^(B)
6 When I fed^[b] them, they were satisfied;
    they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
    therefore they forgot me.^(C)
7 So I will become like a lion to them;
    like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.^(D)
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs
    and will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
    as a wild animal would mangle them.

⁹ I will destroy you, O Israel;
    who can help you?^[c]
10 Where now is^[d] your king, that he may save you?
    Where in all your cities are your rulers,
of whom you said,
    “Give me a king and rulers”?^(E)
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
    and I took him away in my wrath.^(F)

¹² Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up;
    his sin is kept in store.^(G)
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
    but he is an unwise son,
for at the proper time he does not present himself
    at the mouth of the womb.^(H)

¹⁴ Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
    Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are^[e] your plagues?
    O Sheol, where is^[f] your destruction?
    Compassion is hidden from my eyes.^(I)