Hosea 12-14

New American Standard Bible

Ephraim Reminded

12 ^[a]Ephraim feeds on ^(A)wind,
And pursues the ^(B)east wind continually;
He multiplies lies and violence.
Moreover, ^[b]he makes a covenant with Assyria,
And oil is brought to Egypt.
²The Lord also has a ^(C)case against Judah,
And will punish Jacob ^(D)according to his ways;
He will repay him according to his deeds.
³In the womb he ^(E)took his brother by the heel,
And in his mature strength he ^(F)contended with God.
⁴Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept and ^(G)implored His favor.
He found Him at ^(H)Bethel,
And there He spoke with us,
⁵And the Lord, the God of armies,
The Lord is His ^[c]^(I)name.
⁶So as for you, ^(J)return to your God,
^(K)Maintain ^[d]kindness and justice,
And ^(L)wait for your God continually.
⁷A ^[e]merchant, in whose hands are fraudulent ^(M)balances,
Loves to exploit.
⁸And Ephraim said, “I have certainly become ^(N)rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors they will find in me
^(O)No wrongdoing, which would be sin.”
⁹But I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt;
I will make you ^(P)live in tents again,
As in the days of the appointed festival.
¹⁰I have also spoken to the ^(Q)prophets,
And I ^[f]provided many visions,
And through the prophets I spoke in ^(R)parables.
¹¹Is there injustice in Gilead?
Certainly they are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
Yes, ^(S)their altars are like stone heaps
Beside the furrows of a field.

¹²Now ^(T)Jacob fled to the ^[g]land of Aram,
And ^(U)Israel worked for a wife,
And for a wife he kept sheep.
¹³But by a ^(V)prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
And by a prophet he was protected.
¹⁴^(W)Ephraim has provoked God to bitter anger;
So his Lord will leave his ^(X)guilt for bloodshed on him
And bring his ^(Y)disgrace back to him.

Ephraim’s Idolatry

13 ^(Z)When Ephraim ^[h]spoke, there was trembling.
He ^(AA)exalted himself in Israel,
But through ^(AB)Baal he incurred guilt and died.
²And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves ^(AC)cast metal images,
Idols ^[i]^(AD)skillfully made from their silver,
All of them the ^(AE)work of craftsmen.
They say of them, “Let the ^[j]people who sacrifice kiss the ^(AF)calves!”
³Therefore they will be like the ^(AG)morning cloud
And like dew which ^[k]soon disappears,
Like ^(AH)chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor,
And like ^(AI)smoke from a chimney.

⁴Yet I have been the ^(AJ)Lord your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know ^(AK)any god except Me,
For there is no savior ^(AL)besides Me.
⁵I ^[l]^(AM)cared for you in the wilderness,
^(AN)In the land of drought.
⁶As they had their pasture, they became ^(AO)satisfied,
And as they became satisfied, their ^(AP)heart became proud;
Therefore they ^(AQ)forgot Me.
⁷So I will be ^(AR)like a lion to them;
Like a ^(AS)leopard I will ^[m]lie in wait by the wayside.
⁸I will confront them ^(AT)like a bear deprived of her cubs,
And I will tear open ^[n]their chests;
I will also ^(AU)devour them there like a lioness,
As a wild animal would tear them to pieces.

⁹^[o]It is to your own destruction, Israel,
That you are ^(AV)against Me, against your ^(AW)help.
¹⁰Where then is your ^(AX)king,
That he might save you in all your cities;
And your ^(AY)judges, to whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
¹¹I ^(AZ)gave you a king in My anger,
And ^(BA)took him away in My wrath.

¹²The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up;
His sin is ^(BB)stored up.
¹³The pains of ^(BC)childbirth come on him;
He is ^(BD)not a wise son,
For ^[p]it is not the time that he should ^(BE)delay at the opening of the womb.
¹⁴Shall I ^(BF)ransom them from the ^[q]power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
^(BG)Death, where are your ^[r]thorns?
Sheol, where is your sting?
^(BH)Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

¹⁵Though he ^(BI)flourishes among the ^[s]reeds,
An ^(BJ)east wind will come,
The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will ^(BK)become dry
And his spring will dry up;
It will ^(BL)plunder his treasury of every precious article.
¹⁶^[t]Samaria will pay the penalty for her ^(BM)guilt,
Because she has ^(BN)rebelled against her God.
^(BO)They will fall by the ^(BP)sword,
Their children will be ^[u]^(BQ)slaughtered,
And their pregnant ^(BR)women will be ripped open.

Israel’s Future Blessing

14 ^[v]^(BS)Return, Israel, to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled ^[w]because of your ^(BT)wrongdoing.
²Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “^(BU)Take away all guilt
And ^[x]receive us graciously,
So that we may ^(BV)present ^[y]the fruit of our lips.
³Assyria will not save us,
We will ^(BW)not ride on horses;
Nor will we say again, ‘^(BX)Our god’
To the ^(BY)work of our hands;
For in ^(BZ)You the ^[z]orphan finds mercy.”

⁴I will ^(CA)heal their apostasy,
I will ^(CB)love them freely,
Because My anger has ^(CC)turned away from them.
⁵I will be like the ^(CD)dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the ^(CE)lily,
And he will ^[aa]take root like the cedars of ^(CF)Lebanon.
⁶His shoots will ^[ab]sprout,
His ^[ac]majesty will be like the ^(CG)olive tree,
And his fragrance like the cedars of ^(CH)Lebanon.
⁷Those who ^(CI)live in his shadow
Will ^[ad]again raise ^(CJ)grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸Ephraim, what more have I to do with ^(CK)idols?
It is I who answer and look after ^[ae]you.
I am like a luxuriant ^(CL)juniper;
From ^(CM)Me ^[af]comes your fruit.

⁹^(CN)Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is discerning, let him know them.
For the ^(CO)ways of the Lord are right,
And the ^(CP)righteous will walk in them,
But ^(CQ)wrongdoers will stumble in them.

Footnotes

Hosea 12:1 Ch 12:2 in Heb
Hosea 12:1 Lit they make
Hosea 12:5 Lit invocation
Hosea 12:6 Or loyalty
Hosea 12:7 Or Canaanite
Hosea 12:10 Lit multiplied the vision
Hosea 12:12 Lit field
Hosea 13:1 Or spoke with trembling, he exalted
Hosea 13:2 Or according to their skill
Hosea 13:2 Lit sacrificers of; or among mankind
Hosea 13:3 Lit goes away early
Hosea 13:5 Or knew
Hosea 13:7 Or watch
Hosea 13:8 Lit the enclosure of their heart
Hosea 13:9 Lit It has destroyed you
Hosea 13:13 Lit it is the time that he should not remain at the opening of children
Hosea 13:14 Lit hand
Hosea 13:14 Or stings
Hosea 13:15 Another reading is brothers
Hosea 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Heb
Hosea 13:16 Lit shattered
Hosea 14:1 Ch 14:2 in Heb
Hosea 14:1 Or in
Hosea 14:2 Or accept that which is good
Hosea 14:2 As in ancient versions; MT our lips as bulls
Hosea 14:3 Or fatherless
Hosea 14:5 Lit strike his roots
Hosea 14:6 Lit go
Hosea 14:6 Lit splendor
Hosea 14:7 Or return, they will raise grain
Hosea 14:8 Lit him
Hosea 14:8 Lit is found