Hosea 13
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Anger against Israel
13 When the tribe of Ephraim spoke,
the people shook with fear,
for that tribe was important in Israel.
But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal
and thus sealed their destruction.
2 Now they continue to sin by making silver idols,
images shaped skillfully with human hands.
“Sacrifice to these,” they cry,
“and kiss the calf idols!”
3 Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist,
like dew in the morning sun,
like chaff blown by the wind,
like smoke from a chimney.
4 “I have been the Lord your God
ever since I brought you out of Egypt.
You must acknowledge no God but me,
for there is no other savior.
5 I took care of you in the wilderness,
in that dry and thirsty land.
6 But when you had eaten and were satisfied,
you became proud and forgot me.
7 So now I will attack you like a lion,
like a leopard that lurks along the road.
8 Like a bear whose cubs have been taken away,
I will tear out your heart.
I will devour you like a hungry lioness
and mangle you like a wild animal.
9 “You are about to be destroyed, O Israel—
yes, by me, your only helper.
10 Now where is[a] your king?
Let him save you!
Where are all the leaders of the land,
the king and the officials you demanded of me?
11 In my anger I gave you kings,
and in my fury I took them away.
12 “Ephraim’s guilt has been collected,
and his sin has been stored up for punishment.
13 Pain has come to the people
like the pain of childbirth,
but they are like a child
who resists being born.
The moment of birth has arrived,
but they stay in the womb!
14 “Should I ransom them from the grave[b]?
Should I redeem them from death?
O death, bring on your terrors!
O grave, bring on your plagues![c]
For I will not take pity on them.
15 Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers,
but the east wind—a blast from the Lord—
will arise in the desert.
All their flowing springs will run dry,
and all their wells will disappear.
Every precious thing they own
will be plundered and carried away.
16 [d]The people of Samaria
must bear the consequences of their guilt
because they rebelled against their God.
They will be killed by an invading army,
their little ones dashed to death against the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open by swords.”
Hosea 13
Legacy Standard Bible
Ephraim’s Idolatry
13 (A)When Ephraim [a]spoke, there was trembling.
He (B)lifted himself up in Israel,
But through (C)Baal he became guilty and died.
2 And now they sin more and more
And make for themselves (D)molten images,
Idols (E)made from their silver according to their understanding,
All of them the (F)work of craftsmen.
They are saying of them, “Let the [b]men who sacrifice kiss the (G)calves!”
3 Therefore they will be like the (H)morning cloud
And like dew which [c]soon disappears,
Like (I)chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor
And like (J)smoke from a [d]chimney.
4 Yet I have been (K)Yahweh your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know (L)any god except Me,
And there is no savior (M)besides Me.
5 I Myself (N)knew you in the wilderness,
(O)In the land of drought.
6 As they had their pasture, then they became (P)satisfied,
Indeed, they were satisfied, and their (Q)heart became raised up;
Therefore they (R)forgot Me.
7 So I will be (S)like a lion to them;
Like a (T)leopard I will [e]lie in wait by the wayside.
8 I will encounter them (U)like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open [f]the chest enclosing their heart;
There I will also (V)devour them like a lioness,
As a beast of the field would rip them open.
9 It is your ruin, O Israel,
[g]That you are (W)against Me, against your (X)help.
10 Where now is your (Y)king,
That he may save you in all your cities,
And your (Z)judges of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I (AA)gave you a king in My anger
And (AB)took him away in My wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is (AC)stored up.
13 The pains of (AD)childbirth come upon him;
He is (AE)not a wise son,
For [h]it is not the time that he should (AF)delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I (AG)ransom them from the [i]power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
(AH)O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
(AI)Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
15 Though he (AJ)is fruitful among the [j]reeds,
An (AK)east wind will come,
The wind of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will (AL)become dry,
And his spring will be dried up;
It will (AM)plunder his treasury of every desirable article.
16 [k]Samaria will be held (AN)guilty,
For she has (AO)rebelled against her God.
(AP)They will fall by the (AQ)sword;
Their infants will be (AR)dashed in pieces,
And their pregnant (AS)women will be ripped open.
Footnotes
- Hosea 13:1 Or spoke with trembling
- Hosea 13:2 Lit sacrificers of mankind
- Hosea 13:3 Lit goes away early
- Hosea 13:3 Lit window
- Hosea 13:7 Or watch
- Hosea 13:8 Lit the enclosure of their heart
- Hosea 13:9 Or But in Me is your help
- Hosea 13:13 Lit it is the time that he should not tarry at the breaking forth of children
- Hosea 13:14 Lit hand
- Hosea 13:15 Or brothers
- Hosea 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Heb
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