Hosea 11

New International Version

God’s Love for Israel

11 “When Israel was a child,^(A) I loved^(B) him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.^(C)
²But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.^[a]^(D)
They sacrificed to the Baals^(E)
    and they burned incense to images.^(F)
³It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    taking them by the arms;^(G)
but they did not realize
    it was I who healed^(H) them.
⁴I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.^(I)
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed^(J) them.^(K)

⁵“Will they not return to Egypt^(L)
    and will not Assyria^(M) rule over them
    because they refuse to repent?^(N)
⁶A sword^(O) will flash in their cities;
    it will devour^(P) their false prophets
    and put an end to their plans.
⁷My people are determined to turn^(Q) from me.^(R)
    Even though they call me God Most High,
    I will by no means exalt them.

⁸“How can I give you up,^(S) Ephraim?^(T)
    How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
    How can I make you like Zeboyim?^(U)
My heart is changed within me;
    all my compassion^(V) is aroused.^(W)
⁹I will not carry out my fierce anger,^(X)
    nor will I devastate^(Y) Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man^(Z)—
    the Holy One^(AA) among you.
    I will not come against their cities.
¹⁰They will follow the Lord;
    he will roar^(AB) like a lion.^(AC)
When he roars,
    his children will come trembling^(AD) from the west.^(AE)
¹¹They will come from Egypt,
    trembling like sparrows,
    from Assyria,^(AF) fluttering like doves.^(AG)
I will settle them in their homes,”^(AH)
    declares the Lord.

Israel’s Sin

¹²Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,^(AI)
Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful^(AJ) Holy One.^[b]^(AK)

Footnotes

Hosea 11:2 Septuagint; Hebrew them
Hosea 11:12 In Hebrew texts this verse (11:12) is numbered 12:1.

Matthew 2:13-23

New International Version

The Escape to Egypt

¹³When they had gone, an angel^(A) of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.^(B) “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”^(C)

¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled^(D) what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^[a]^(E)

¹⁶When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:^(F)

¹⁸“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel^(G) weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”^[b]^(H)

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel^(I) of the Lord appeared in a dream^(J) to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”^(K)

²¹So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream,^(L) he withdrew to the district of Galilee,^(M) ²³and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.^(N) So was fulfilled^(O) what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.^(P)