Hosea 11-12
Christian Standard Bible
The Lord’s Love for Israel
11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,(A)
and out of Egypt I called my son.(B)
2 Israel called to the Egyptians(C)
even as Israel was leaving them.[a]
They kept sacrificing to the Baals(D)
and burning offerings to idols.(E)
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,(F)
taking them[b] by the hand,[c](G)
but they never knew that I healed them.(H)
4 I led them with human cords,
with ropes of love.(I)
To them I was like one
who eases the yoke from their jaws;(J)
I bent down to give them food.(K)
5 Israel will not return to the land of Egypt
and Assyria will be his king,(L)
because they refused to repent.(M)
6 A sword will whirl through his cities;(N)
it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates,[d](O)
because of their schemes.(P)
7 My people are bent on turning from me.(Q)
Though they call to him on high,
he will not exalt them at all.
8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?(R)
How can I surrender you, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?(S)
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?(T)
I have had a change of heart;
my compassion is stirred!
9 I will not vent the full fury of my anger;(U)
I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.(V)
For I am God and not man,
the Holy One among you;(W)
I will not come in rage.[e]
10 They will follow the Lord;(X)
he will roar like a lion.(Y)
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.(Z)
11 They will be roused like birds from Egypt
and like doves(AA) from the land of Assyria.(AB)
Then I will settle them in their homes.(AC)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12 Ephraim surrounds me with lies,(AD)
the house of Israel, with deceit.
Judah still wanders with God
and is faithful to the holy ones.[f]
God’s Case against Jacob’s Heirs
12 Ephraim chases[g] the wind(AE)
and pursues the east wind.(AF)
He continually multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a covenant with Assyria,(AG)
and olive oil is carried to Egypt.(AH)
2 The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob according to his conduct;(AI)
he will repay him based on his actions.
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,(AJ)
and as an adult he wrestled with God.(AK)
4 Jacob struggled with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought his favor.(AL)
He found him at Bethel,(AM)
and there he spoke with him.[h](AN)
5 The Lord is the God of Armies;
the Lord is his name.(AO)
6 But you must return to your God.(AP)
Maintain love and justice,(AQ)
and always put your hope in God.(AR)
7 A merchant loves to extort(AS)
with dishonest scales in his hands.(AT)
8 But Ephraim thinks,
“How rich I have become;(AU)
I made it all myself.
In all my earnings,
no one can find any iniquity in me(AV)
that I can be punished for!” [i]
Judgment on Apostate Israel
9 I have been the Lord your God
ever since[j] the land of Egypt.(AW)
I will make you live in tents again,(AX)
as in the festival days.
10 I will speak through the prophets(AY)
and grant many visions;
I will give parables through the prophets.(AZ)
11 Since Gilead is full of evil,(BA)
they will certainly come to nothing.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;(BB)
even their altars will be like piles of rocks(BC)
on the furrows of a field.
Further Indictment of Jacob’s Heirs
12 Jacob fled to the territory of Aram.(BD)
Israel worked to earn a wife;(BE)
he tended flocks for a wife.(BF)
13 The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet,(BG)
and Israel was tended by a prophet.
14 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,(BH)
so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him(BI)
and repay him for his contempt.(BJ)
Footnotes
- 11:2 Lit They called to them; thus they went from before them
- 11:3 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads him
- 11:3 Lit them on his arms
- 11:6 Or devour his empty talkers, or devour his limbs; Hb obscure
- 11:9 Or come into any city; Hb obscure
- 11:12 Hb obscure
- 12:1 Or grazes on, or tends
- 12:4 LXX, Syr; MT reads us
- 12:8 Lit iniquity which is sin
- 12:9 LXX reads God who brought you out of
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