Hosea 11-12

New King James Version

³ “I^(D) taught Ephraim to walk,
Taking them by ^[d]their arms;
But they did not know that ^(E)I healed them.
⁴ I drew them with ^[e]gentle cords,
With bands of love,
And ^(F)I was to them as those who take the yoke from their ^[f]neck.
^(G)I stooped and fed them.

⁵ “He shall not return to the land of Egypt;
But the Assyrian shall be his king,
Because they refused to repent.
⁶ And the sword shall slash in his cities,
Devour his districts,
And consume them,
Because of their own counsels.
⁷ My people are bent on ^(H)backsliding from Me.
Though ^[g]they call ^[h]to the Most High,
None at all exalt Him.

⁸ “How^(I) can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like ^(J)Admah?
How can I set you like Zeboiim?
My heart ^[i]churns within Me;
My sympathy is stirred.
⁹ I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
^(K)For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in your midst;
And I will not ^[j]come with terror.

¹⁰ “They shall walk after the Lord.
^(L)He will roar like a lion.
When He roars,
Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;
¹¹ They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,
^(M)Like a dove from the land of Assyria.
^(N)And I will let them dwell in their houses,”
Says the Lord.

² “The^(R) Lord also brings a ^[n]charge against Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
According to his deeds He will recompense him.
³ He took his brother ^(S)by the heel in the womb,
And in his strength he ^(T)struggled with God.
⁴ Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
He wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in ^(U)Bethel,
And there He spoke to us—
⁵ That is, the Lord God of hosts.
The Lord is His ^(V)memorable name.
^6 (W)So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait on your God continually.

⁷ “A cunning ^[o]Canaanite!
^(X)Deceitful scales are in his hand;
He loves to oppress.
⁸ And Ephraim said,
^(Y)‘Surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors
They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’

⁹ “But I am the Lord your God,
Ever since the land of Egypt;
^(Z)I will again make you dwell in tents,
As in the days of the appointed feast.
^10 (AA)I have also spoken by the prophets,
And have multiplied visions;
I have given ^[p]symbols ^[q]through the witness of the prophets.”

¹¹ Though ^(AB)Gilead has idols—
Surely they are ^[r]vanity—
Though they sacrifice bulls in ^(AC)Gilgal,
Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.

¹² Jacob ^(AD)fled to the country of Syria;
^(AE)Israel served for a spouse,
And for a wife he tended sheep.
^13 (AF)By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
And by a prophet he was preserved.
¹⁴ Ephraim ^(AG)provoked Him to anger most bitterly;
Therefore his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him,
^(AH)And return his reproach upon him.