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¶ When I was healing Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria; for they worked deceit; and the thief comes in, and the troop of robbers spoils without.

And they do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness; now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.

They make the king glad with their wickedness and the princes with their lies.

They are all adulterers as an oven heated by the baker who shall cease from waking after he has kneaded the dough until it is leavened.

In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with a wineskin; he stretched out his hand with the scorners.

For they have made ready their heart like an oven while they lie in wait; their baker sleeps all night; in the morning it burns as a flaming fire.

They are all hot as an oven and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen; there is no one among them that calls unto me.

¶ Ephraim, he has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

Strangers have devoured his strength, and he does not know it; yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he does not understand.

10 And the pride of Israel shall testify to his face, and they have not returned to the LORD their God, nor have they sought him with all this.

11 Ephraim also was like a deceived dove, without understanding; they shall call to Egypt, they shall go to Assyria.

12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them according to what has been heard in their congregations.

13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction upon them! because they have rebelled against me; though I have ransomed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart when they howled upon their beds; they congregated themselves for the wheat and the wine, and they rebelled against me.

15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet they imagine evil against me.

16 They returned, but not to the most High; they were like a deceitful bow; their princes fell by the sword for the arrogance of their tongue; this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

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.

11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(T)
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(U)
    now turning to Assyria.(V)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(W) over them;
    I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
    I will catch them.
13 Woe(X) to them,
    because they have strayed(Y) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me(Z) falsely.(AA)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(AB)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[a] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,(AC)
    but they turn away from me.(AD)
15 I trained(AE) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil(AF) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(AG)
    they are like a faulty bow.(AH)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent(AI) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(AJ)
    in the land of Egypt.(AK)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together