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Well-Fed Israel Will Be Fed to Wild Animals

But I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
Therefore, you must not acknowledge any God but me.
Except for me there is no Savior.
I cared for[a] you in the wilderness,
in the dry desert where no water was.[b]
When they were fed,[c] they became satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;[d]
as a result, they forgot me!
So[e] I will pounce on them like a lion;[f]
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs—
I will rip open their chests.
I will devour them there like a lion—
like a wild animal would tear them apart.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 13:5 tc The MT reads יְדַעְתִּיךָ (yedaʿtikha, Qal perfect first person common singular + second person masculine singular suffix from יָדַע, yadaʿ, “to know”), followed by KJV and ASV (“I did know thee”). The LXX and Syriac reflect an alternate textual tradition of רְעִיתִיךָ (reʿitikha, Qal perfect first person common singular + second person masculine singular suffix from רָעָה, raʿah, “to feed”), which is followed by most recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
  2. Hosea 13:5 tn Heb “land of intense drought” or “intensely thirsty land.” The noun תַּלְאֻבוֹת (talʾuvot) occurs in the OT only here. It probably means “drought” (BDB 520 s.v. תַּלְאֻבָה). The related Arabic verb means “to be thirsty,” and the related Arabic noun means “a stony tract of land.” The plural form (singular = תַּלְאֻבָה, talʾuvah) is a plural of intensity: “a [land] of intense drought.” The term functions as an attributive genitive, modifying the construct אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “land”). The phrase is variously rendered: “land of (+ “great” in KJV) drought” (RSV, NASB), “thirsty land” (NJPS), “thirsty desert” (CEV), “dry, desert land” (TEV), and the metonymical (effect for cause) “land of burning heat” (NIV).
  3. Hosea 13:6 tc The MT reads כְּמַרְעִיתָם (kemarʿitam, “according to their pasturage”; preposition כְּ (kaf) + noun מַרְעִית, marʿit, “pasture” + third person masculine plural suffix). Text-critics propose: (1) כְּמוֹ רְעִיתִים (kemo reʿitim, “as I pastured them”; preposition כְּמוֹ (kemo) + Qal perfect first person common singular from רָעַה, raʿah, “to pasture, feed” + third person masculine plural suffix) and (2) כִּרְעוֹתָם (“when they had pastured”; preposition כְּ + Qal perfect third person masculine plural from רָעַה). Some English versions follow the MT: “according to their pasture” (KJV), “as they had their pasture” (NASB), and “when you entered the good land” (TEV). Others adopt the first emendation: “when I fed them” (NIV, NRSV) and “I fed you [sic = them]” (CEV). Still others follow the second emendation: “but when they had fed to the full” (RSV) and “when they grazed” (NJPS).
  4. Hosea 13:6 tn Heb “their heart became exalted”; cf. KJV, ASV “was exalted.”
  5. Hosea 13:7 tn The vav consecutive + preterite form וָאֱהִי (vaʾehi) introduces a consequential or result clause; cf. NAB “Therefore,” NCV “That is why.”
  6. Hosea 13:7 tn Heb “So I will be like a lion to them” (so NASB); cf. NIV “I will come upon them like a lion.”

Yet I have been the Lord your God
    ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
    and besides me there is no savior.(A)
It was I who fed[a] you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought.(B)
When I fed[b] them, they were satisfied;
    they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
    therefore they forgot me.(C)
So I will become like a lion to them;
    like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.(D)
I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs
    and will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
    as a wild animal would mangle them.

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Footnotes

  1. 13.5 Gk Syr: Heb knew
  2. 13.6 Cn: Heb according to their pasture