Hosea 12:2-14:9

New American Standard Bible

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

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

Ephraim’s Idolatry

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

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

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

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

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

Israel’s Future Blessing

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

⁴I will ^(BY)heal their apostasy,
I will ^(BZ)love them freely,
Because My anger has ^(CA)turned away from them.
⁵I will be like the ^(CB)dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the ^(CC)lily,
And he will ^[y]take root like the cedars of ^(CD)Lebanon.
⁶His shoots will ^[z]sprout,
His ^[aa]majesty will be like the ^(CE)olive tree,
And his fragrance like the cedars of ^(CF)Lebanon.
⁷Those who ^(CG)live in his shadow
Will ^[ab]again raise ^(CH)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 ^(CI)idols?
It is I who answer and look after ^[ac]you.
I am like a luxuriant ^(CJ)juniper;
From ^(CK)Me ^[ad]comes your fruit.

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

Footnotes

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