Hosea 7-8

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

7 when I would heal Israel,
    the corruption of Ephraim is revealed,
    and the wicked deeds of Samaria,
for they deal falsely;
    the thief breaks in,
    and the bandits raid outside.^(A)
2 But they do not consider
    that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds surround them;
    they are before my face.^(B)
3 By their wickedness they make the king glad,
    and the officials by their treachery.
⁴ They are all adulterers;
    they are like a heated oven
whose baker does not need to stir the fire
    from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.^(C)
5 On the day of our king the officials
    became sick with the heat of wine;
    he stretched out his hand with mockers.^(D)
6 For they are kindled^[a] like an oven; their heart burns within them;
    all night their anger smolders;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
⁷ All of them are hot as an oven,
    and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
    none of them calls upon me.^(E)

⁸ Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
    Ephraim is a cake not turned.
⁹ Foreigners devour his strength,
    but he does not know it;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
    but he does not know it.^(F)
10 Israel’s pride testifies against^[b] him;
    yet they do not return to the Lord their God
    or seek him, for all this.^(G)

¹⁴ They do not cry to me from the heart,
    but they wail upon their beds;
they gash themselves for grain and wine;
    they rebel against me.^(K)
15 It was I who trained and strengthened their arms,
    yet they plot evil against me.^(L)
16 They turn to that which does not profit;^[d]
    they have become like a defective bow;
their officials shall fall by the sword
    because of the rage of their tongue.
So much for their babbling in the land of Egypt.^(M)

⁴ They made kings but not through me;
    they set up princes but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols
    for their own destruction.^(P)
5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria.
    My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?^(Q)
6     For it is from Israel,
an artisan made it;
    it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
    shall be broken to pieces.^(R)

⁷ For they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
    it shall yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
    foreigners would devour it.^(S)
8 Israel is swallowed up;
    now they are among the nations
    as a useless vessel.^(T)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
    a wild ass wandering alone;
    Ephraim has bargained for lovers.^(U)
10 Though they bargain with the nations,
    I will now gather them up.
They shall soon writhe
    under the burden of kings and princes.^(V)

¹¹ When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sin,
    they became to him altars for sinning.
¹² Though I write for him the multitude of my instructions,
    they are regarded as a strange thing.^(W)
13 Though they offer choice sacrifices,^[g]
    though they eat flesh,
    the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins;
    they shall return to Egypt.^(X)
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker
    and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
    but I will send a fire upon his cities,
    and it shall devour his strongholds.^(Y)