Hosea 7:14-16

Contemporary English Version

¹⁴ They don't really pray to me;
    they just howl in their beds.
They have rejected me for Baal
    and slashed themselves,^[a]
in the hope that Baal
    will bless their crops.
¹⁵ I taught them what they know,
    and I made them strong.
Now they plot against me
¹⁶     and refuse to obey.^[b]
They are more useless
    than a crooked arrow.
Their leaders will die in war
    for saying foolish things.
Egyptians will laugh at them.