Hosea 7
Names of God Bible
7 “Whenever I want to heal Israel,
all I can see is Ephraim’s sin and Samaria’s wickedness.
People cheat each other.
They break into houses and steal.
They rob people in the streets.
2 They don’t realize that I remember
all the evil things they’ve done.
Now their sins surround them.
Their sins are in my presence.
3 “They make kings happy with the wicked things they do.
They make officials happy with the lies they tell.
4 They all commit adultery.
They are like a heated oven,
an oven so hot that a baker doesn’t have to fan its flames
when he makes bread.
5 On the day of the king’s celebration,
the officials become drunk from wine,
and the king joins mockers.
6 They become hot like an oven while they lie in ambush.
All night long their anger smolders,
but in the morning it burns like a raging fire.
7 They are all as hot as an oven.
They consume their judges like a fire.
All their kings die in battle, and none of them calls to me.
Israel Turns to Other Nations for Help
8 “Ephraim mixes with other nations.
Ephraim, you are like a half-baked loaf of bread.
9 Foreigners are using up your strength, but you don’t realize it.
You have become a gray-haired, old man, but you don’t realize it.
10 Israel, your arrogance testifies against you,
but even after all this, you don’t turn to Yahweh your Elohim
or look to him for help.
11 Ephraim, you are like a silly, senseless dove.
You call for Egypt and run to Assyria for help.
12 When you go, I will spread my net over you.
I will snatch you out of the air like a bird.
I will punish you for all the evil things you have done.
13 “How horrible it will be for these people.
They have run away from me.
They must be destroyed because they’ve rebelled against me.
I want to reclaim them, but they tell lies about me.
14 They don’t pray to me sincerely,
even though they cry in their beds
and make cuts on their bodies
while praying for grain and new wine.
They have turned against me.
15 I trained them and made them strong.
Yet, they plan evil against me.
16 They don’t return to the Most High.
They are like a defective bow.
Their officials will die in battle
because they curse.
The people in Egypt will ridicule them for this.
Hosea 7
International Standard Version
God Accuses Israel
7 “When I was healing Israel,
Ephraim’s sin was uncovered,
along with Samaria’s wickedness.
While they craft lying schemes,
the thief invades,
and the gang of thieves plunders outside.
2 It never occurs to them that I remember all their sin.
Now their actions have caught up with them,
and they have my attention.[a]
3 They please the king with their evil,
and the princes with their dishonesty.
4 All of them are adulterers—
they burn like an oven prepared by the baker,
who has ceased stoking it
until the dough is leavened.
5 “On the king’s festival day
the princes got drunk from wine,
so the king[b] joined the mockers.
6 For they have stirred up themselves[c] like an oven
as they lie in ambush.
Their baker sleeps through the night;
in the morning, the oven[d] will be blazing like a fire.
7 They all burn like an oven;
they have consumed their judges;
all their kings have fallen—
not even one of them calls on me.
8 “Ephraim compromises with[e] the nations;
he’s a half-baked cake.[f]
9 Foreigners have consumed his strength,
and he hasn’t noticed.
Furthermore, his head is sprinkled with gray hair,
but he doesn’t realize it.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him;[g]
but they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek him in all of this.
11 “Ephraim is also like a silly dove,
lacking sense:[h]
They call out to Egypt,
and turn toward Assyria.
12 When they go,
I’ll cast my net over them.
I’ll bring them down, as one shoots[i] birds in the sky.
I’ll chasten them,
as the assembly has already heard.
13 Woe to them—
because they have run away from me.
Ruin to them—
because they have sinned against me.
Even though I redeemed them,
they spread lies against me.
14 They will not cry to me from their heart—
instead, they wail on their beds.
They gather together to eat and drink,[j]
turning away from me.
15 “Though I have taught them
and strengthened their arms,
nevertheless they plot evil against me.
16 They return—but not to the Most High.
They are like a defective weapon.[k]
Their princes will fall by the sword
because of their raging tongue,
and they will be a laughingstock in the land of Egypt.”
Footnotes
- Hosea 7:2 Lit. they are before my face
- Hosea 7:5 Lit. so he
- Hosea 7:6 Lit. up their heart
- Hosea 7:6 Lit. morning, it
- Hosea 7:8 Or dilutes himself among
- Hosea 7:8 Lit. a cake not turned
- Hosea 7:10 Lit. testifies in his face
- Hosea 7:11 Lit. heart
- Hosea 7:12 The Heb. lacks one shoots
- Hosea 7:14 Lit. together for grain and fresh wine
- Hosea 7:16 Lit. bow
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
