Hosea 11:7-12:12

New King James Version

⁷My people are bent on ^(A)backsliding from Me.
Though ^[a]they call ^[b]to the Most High,
None at all exalt Him.

⁸“How^(B) can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like ^(C)Admah?
How can I set you like Zeboiim?
My heart ^[c]churns within Me;
My sympathy is stirred.
⁹I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
^(D)For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in your midst;
And I will not ^[d]come with terror.

¹⁰“They shall walk after the Lord.
^(E)He will roar like a lion.
When He roars,
Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;
¹¹They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,
^(F)Like a dove from the land of Assyria.
^(G)And I will let them dwell in their houses,”
Says the Lord.

God’s Charge Against Ephraim

¹²“Ephraim has encircled Me with lies,
And the house of Israel with deceit;
But Judah still walks with God,
Even with the ^[e]Holy One who is faithful.

Ephraim’s Sins Rebuked by God

12 “Ephraim ^(H)feeds on the wind,
And pursues the east wind;
He daily increases lies and ^[f]desolation.
^(I)Also they make a ^[g]covenant with the Assyrians,
And ^(J)oil is carried to Egypt.

²“The^(K) Lord also brings a ^[h]charge against Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
According to his deeds He will recompense him.
³He took his brother ^(L)by the heel in the womb,
And in his strength he ^(M)struggled with God.
⁴Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
He wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in ^(N)Bethel,
And there He spoke to us—
⁵That is, the Lord God of hosts.
The Lord is His ^(O)memorable name.
⁶^(P)So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait on your God continually.

⁷“A cunning ^[i]Canaanite!
^(Q)Deceitful scales are in his hand;
He loves to oppress.
⁸And Ephraim said,
^(R)‘Surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors
They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’

⁹“But I am the Lord your God,
Ever since the land of Egypt;
^(S)I will again make you dwell in tents,
As in the days of the appointed feast.
¹⁰^(T)I have also spoken by the prophets,
And have multiplied visions;
I have given ^[j]symbols ^[k]through the witness of the prophets.”

¹¹Though ^(U)Gilead has idols—
Surely they are ^[l]vanity—
Though they sacrifice bulls in ^(V)Gilgal,
Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.