Hosea 13:1-14

New King James Version

Relentless Judgment on Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, trembling,
He exalted himself in Israel;
But when he offended through Baal worship, he died.
²Now they sin more and more,
And have made for themselves molded images,
Idols of their silver, according to their skill;
All of it is the work of craftsmen.
They say of them,
“Let ^[a]the men who sacrifice ^[b]kiss the calves!”
³Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud
And like the early dew that passes away,
^(A)Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor
And like smoke from a chimney.

⁴“Yet ^(B)I am the Lord your God
Ever since the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no God but Me;
For ^(C)there is no savior besides Me.
⁵^(D)I ^[c]knew you in the wilderness,
^(E)In the land of ^[d]great drought.
⁶^(F)When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore they forgot Me.

⁷“So ^(G)I will be to them like a lion;
Like ^(H)a leopard by the road I will lurk;
⁸I will meet them ^(I)like a bear deprived of her cubs;
I will tear open their rib cage,
And there I will devour them like a lion.
The ^[e]wild beast shall tear them.

⁹“O Israel, ^[f]you are destroyed,
But ^[g]your help is from Me.
¹⁰^[h]I will be your King;
^(J)Where is any other,
That he may save you in all your cities?
And your judges to whom ^(K)you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?
¹¹^(L)I gave you a king in My anger,
And took him away in My wrath.

¹²“The^(M) iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is stored up.
¹³^(N)The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him.
He is an unwise son,
For he should not stay long where children are born.

¹⁴“I will ransom them from the ^[i]power of ^[j]the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
^(O)O Death, ^[k]I will be your plagues!
O ^[l]Grave, ^[m]I will be your destruction!
^(P)Pity is hidden from My eyes.”