Hosea 13:4-14

English Standard Version

⁴But ^(A)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
^(B)you know no God but me,
    and ^(C)besides me there is no savior.
⁵^(D)It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
⁶^(E)but when they had grazed,^[a] they became full,
    ^(F)they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    ^(G)therefore they forgot me.
⁷So ^(H)I am to them like a lion;
    ^(I)like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
⁸I will fall upon them ^(J)like a bear robbed of her cubs;
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    ^(K)as a wild beast would rip them open.

⁹He destroys^[b] you, O Israel,
    for you are against me, against ^(L)your helper.
¹⁰^(M)Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
    Where are all your rulers—
those of whom ^(N)you said,
    “Give me a king and princes”?
¹¹^(O)I gave you a king in my anger,
    and ^(P)I took him away in my wrath.

¹²The iniquity of Ephraim is ^(Q)bound up;
    his sin is ^(R)kept in store.
¹³^(S)The pangs of childbirth come for him,
    but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
    ^(T)at the opening of the womb.

¹⁴^(U)I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    ^(V)I shall redeem them from Death.^[c]
^(W)O ^(X)Death, where are your plagues?
    ^(Y)O ^(Z)Sheol, where is your sting?
    ^(AA)Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵Though ^(AB)he may flourish among his brothers,
    ^(AC)the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
    rising from the wilderness,
^(AD)and his fountain shall dry up;
    his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ^(AE)his treasury
    of every precious thing.
¹⁶^[d] Samaria ^(AF)shall bear her guilt,
    because ^(AG)she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
    ^(AH)their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
    and their ^(AI)pregnant women ripped open.

A Plea to Return to the Lord

14 ^(AJ)Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
    for ^(AK)you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
²Take with you words
    and return to the Lord;
say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
accept ^(AL)what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    ^(AM)the vows^[e] of our lips.
³^(AN)Assyria shall not save us;
    ^(AO)we will not ride on horses;
and ^(AP)we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
^(AQ)In you the orphan finds mercy.”

⁴I ^(AR)will heal their apostasy;
^(AS)I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.

Footnotes

Hosea 13:6 Hebrew according to their pasture
Hosea 13:9 Or I will destroy
Hosea 13:14 Or Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death?
Hosea 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Hebrew
Hosea 14:2 Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit