Israel Has Rebelled Against God

“When I would have healed Israel,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria.
For (A)they have committed fraud;
A thief comes in;
A band of robbers [a]takes spoil outside.
They [b]do not consider in their hearts
That (B)I remember all their wickedness;
Now their own deeds have surrounded them;
They are before My face.
They make a (C)king glad with their wickedness,
And princes (D)with their lies.

“They(E) are all adulterers.
Like an oven heated by a baker—
He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough,
Until it is leavened.
In the day of our king
Princes have made him sick, [c]inflamed with (F)wine;
He stretched out his hand with scoffers.
They prepare their heart like an oven,
While they lie in wait;
[d]Their baker sleeps all night;
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
They are all hot, like an oven,
And have devoured their judges;
All their kings have fallen.
(G)None among them calls upon Me.

“Ephraim (H)has mixed himself among the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake unturned.
(I)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 (J)pride of Israel testifies to his face,
But (K)they do not return to the Lord their God,
Nor seek Him for all this.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 7:1 plunders
  2. Hosea 7:2 Lit. do not say to
  3. Hosea 7:5 Lit. with the heat of
  4. Hosea 7:6 So with MT, Vg.; Syr., Tg. Their anger; LXX Ephraim

whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
    and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(A)
They practice deceit,(B)
    thieves break into houses,(C)
    bandits rob in the streets;(D)
but they do not realize
    that I remember(E) all their evil deeds.(F)
Their sins engulf them;(G)
    they are always before me.

“They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.(H)
They are all adulterers,(I)
    burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
    from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
On the day of the festival of our king
    the princes become inflamed with wine,(J)
    and he joins hands with the mockers.(K)
Their hearts are like an oven;(L)
    they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(M)
    and none of them calls(N) on me.

“Ephraim mixes(O) with the nations;
    Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
Foreigners sap his strength,(P)
    but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
    but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(Q)
    but despite all this
he does not return(R) to the Lord his God
    or search(S) for him.

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