Ephraim’s Idolatry

13 (A)When Ephraim [a]spoke, there was trembling.
He (B)exalted himself in Israel,
But through (C)Baal he [b]did wrong and died.
And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves (D)molten images,
Idols [c](E)skillfully made from their silver,
All of them the (F)work of craftsmen.
They say of them, “Let the [d]men who sacrifice kiss the (G)calves!”
Therefore they will be like the (H)morning cloud
And like dew which [e]soon disappears,
Like (I)chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor
And like (J)smoke from a [f]chimney.

Yet I have been the (K)Lord your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know (L)any god except Me,
For there is no savior (M)besides Me.
I [g](N)cared for you in the wilderness,
(O)In the land of drought.
As they had their pasture, they became (P)satisfied,
And being satisfied, their (Q)heart became proud;
Therefore they (R)forgot Me.
So I will be (S)like a lion to them;
Like a (T)leopard I will [h]lie in wait by the wayside.
I will encounter them (U)like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open [i]their chests;
There I will also (V)devour them like a lioness,
As a wild beast would tear them.

It is your destruction, O Israel,
[j]That you are (W)against Me, against your (X)help.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 13:1 Or spoke with trembling
  2. Hosea 13:1 Or became guilty
  3. Hosea 13:2 Or according to their own understanding
  4. Hosea 13:2 Lit sacrificers of or, (among) mankind
  5. Hosea 13:3 Lit goes away early
  6. Hosea 13:3 Lit window
  7. Hosea 13:5 Or knew
  8. Hosea 13:7 Or watch
  9. Hosea 13:8 Lit the enclosure of their heart
  10. Hosea 13:9 Or But in Me is your help