Hosea 7
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
7 1 when I would heal Israel,
the corruption of E′phraim is revealed,
and the wicked deeds of Samar′ia;
for they deal falsely,
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid without.
2 But they do not consider
that I remember all their evil works.
Now their deeds encompass them,
they are before my face.
3 By their wickedness they make the king glad,
and the princes by their treachery.
4 They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven,
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
5 On the day of our king the princes
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6 For like an oven their hearts burn[a] with intrigue;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
and none of them calls upon me.
8 E′phraim mixes himself with the peoples;
E′phraim is a cake not turned.
9 Aliens devour his strength,
and he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and he knows it not.
10 The pride of Israel witnesses against him;
yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek him, for all this.
Futile Reliance on the Nations
11 E′phraim is like a dove,
silly and without sense,
calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
12 As they go, I will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will chastise them for their wicked deeds.[b]
13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.
14 They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves,
they rebel against me.
15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16 They turn to Ba′al;[c]
they are like a treacherous bow,
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
Footnotes
- Hosea 7:6 Gk Syr: Heb brought near
- Hosea 7:12 Cn: Heb according to the report to their congregation
- Hosea 7:16 Cn: Heb uncertain
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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