Hosea 7
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 7
1 Whenever I decide to restore the fortunes of my people
and prepare to heal Israel,
the guilt of Ephraim confronts me
as well as the wicked deeds of Samaria.
They practice deceit;
thieves break into houses
while bandits plunder in the streets.[a]
2 But they somehow fail to remind themselves
that I remember all their wickedness.
I will not forget their wicked deeds;
they are constantly before my eyes.
The Conspirators
3 They delight the king with their wickedness
and the princes with their treachery.
4 All of them are adulterers;
they are like an oven all ablaze
whose fire the baker does not need to stoke
from the kneading of the dough until it has risen.
5 On the festal day of their king,
the princes become inflamed with wine
while the king extends his hand
to those who mock him.[b]
6 For they are heated like ovens
while their heart burns within them.
All through the night their passion slumbers;
in the morning it blazes forth like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are as hot as ovens,
and they consume their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
not one of them calls out to me.
They Call upon Egypt, They Turn to Assyria
8 Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a half-baked cake.[c]
9 Foreigners have sapped his strength,
but he is unaware of it.
His hair is beginning to turn gray,
but he does not realize it.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them,
but despite all this,
they do not return to the Lord, their God,
nor do they seek him.
11 Ephraim has become like a dove,
silly and without any sense.
They call upon Egypt;
they turn to Assyria.
12 Wherever they turn,
I will cast my net over them.
I will bring them down
like birds of the sky.
I will discipline them
because of their evil deeds.
13 Woe to them,
for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
for they have rebelled against me!
I longed to redeem them,
but they continued to tell lies about me.
14 They have not cried out to me from their hearts
while they wailed upon their beds.
When they gash themselves to obtain grain and new wine,[d]
they are still rebelling against me.
15 Even though I supported and strengthened them,
they devise evil plots against me.
16 Everything they devise is of no avail;
they are like a defective bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
As a result, they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.
Footnotes
- Hosea 7:1 In healing the sick, physicians would have the sick person strip.
- Hosea 7:5 Probably an allusion to the assassination of Elah (see 1 Ki 16:8-14).
- Hosea 7:8 Ephraim is a half-baked cake: Ephraim (Israel) has suffered a decrease in power as a result of interfering in the politics of the surrounding peoples.
- Hosea 7:14 When they gash themselves to obtain grain and new wine: a practice that was prevalent in the Near East during prayers of supplication (see 1 Ki 18:28) but that was prohibited by the Israelite religion (see Lev 19:28; Deut 14:1).
Hosea 7
Complete Jewish Bible
7 when I am ready to heal Isra’el,
the crimes of Efrayim confront me,
along with the wickedness of Shomron.
For they keep practicing deceit;
thieves break in, bands of robbers raid outside.
2 They never say to themselves
that I remember all their evil.
Now their own deeds surround them;
they are right in front of me.
3 They make the king glad with their wickedness,
and the leaders with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
like an oven heated by the baker,
who doesn’t stoke the fire
from kneading time till the dough has risen.
5 “On their king’s special day
the leaders inflame him with wine,
and he joins hands with scorners,
6 who ready themselves like an oven
while they wait for their chance.
Their baker sleeps through the night;
then in the morning it bursts into flame.
7 They are all as hot as an oven,
and they devour their judges.
All their kings have fallen;
not one of them calls out to me.
8 “Efrayim mixes himself with the peoples,
Efrayim has become a half-baked cake.
9 Foreigners have eaten up his strength,
but he doesn’t know it;
yes, gray hairs appear on him here and there,
but he doesn’t know it.
10 The pride of Isra’el testifies in his face,
but in spite of all this they haven’t returned
to Adonai their God or sought him.
11 Efrayim behaves like a silly, foolish dove —
going to Egypt, then to Ashur for help.
12 Even as they go, I will spread my net over them;
I will bring them down like birds from the sky;
I will discipline them, as their assembly was told.
13 Woe to them! for they have strayed from me.
Destruction to them! for they have wronged me.
Am I supposed to redeem them,
when they have spoken lies against me?
14 They have not cried out to me from their hearts,
even though they wail on their beds.
They assemble themselves for grain and wine,
yet turn away from me.
15 It was I who trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they plot evil against me.
16 They return, but not upward;
they are like an unreliable bow.
Their leaders will die by the sword
because of their angry talk.
They will become a laughingstock
in the land of Egypt.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.