Hosea 7:13-16

The Voice

¹³     May they experience sorrow for wandering away from Me!
        May they be destroyed for the way they’ve rebelled against Me!
    I would like to buy them back from death,
        but they would just keep lying to Me and against Me.
¹⁴     They’re not sincere when they cry out to Me for help.
        They howl on their couches;
    Hoping a god will send grain to gather and wine to enjoy.
        They turn away from Me.
¹⁵     I trained them, I made their arms strong, I could have protected them,
        but they devised evil schemes against Me.
¹⁶     They turn for help, but not to the Most High;
        they’ve become as weak and ineffective as a loosely-strung bow.
    Because of their defiant words, their leaders will be killed in battle,
        and they’ll be the laughingstock of everyone in Egypt.