Hosea 12:6-13:5

English Standard Version

⁶“So you, ^(A)by the help of your God, return,
^(B)hold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.”

⁷A merchant, in whose hands are ^(C)false balances,
    he loves ^(D)to oppress.
⁸Ephraim has said, “Ah, but ^(E)I am rich;
    I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors ^(F)they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
⁹^(G)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you ^(H)dwell in tents,
    as in the days of the appointed feast.

¹⁰^(I)I spoke to the prophets;
    it was I who multiplied ^(J)visions,
    and through the prophets gave parables.
¹¹^(K)If there is iniquity in Gilead,
    they shall surely come to nothing:
^(L)in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
    ^(M)their altars also are like stone heaps
    ^(N)on the furrows of the field.
¹²^(O)Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
    there Israel ^(P)served for a wife,
    and for a wife he guarded sheep.
¹³By ^(Q)a prophet ^(R)the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
    and by a prophet he was guarded.
¹⁴^(S)Ephraim has given bitter provocation;
    so his Lord ^(T)will leave his bloodguilt on him
    ^(U)and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
    ^(V)he was exalted in Israel,
    but he incurred guilt ^(W)through Baal and died.
²And now they sin more and more,
    and ^(X)make for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
    ^(Y)all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
    “Those who offer human sacrifice ^(Z)kiss calves!”
³Therefore they shall be ^(AA)like the morning mist
    or ^(AB)like the dew that goes early away,
^(AC)like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
    or ^(AD)like smoke from a window.

⁴But ^(AE)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
^(AF)you know no God but me,
    and ^(AG)besides me there is no savior.
⁵^(AH)It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;