Add parallel Print Page Options

The more I called to them,
    the more they went away from me.[a]
    They kept sacrificing to the Baals
    and burning incense to idols.
Yet I was the one who taught Ephraim to walk.
    I took them in my arms,[b]
    but they did not realize that it was I who healed them.
I drew them with cords suitable for a man,[c] with ropes of love.
    For them I became like someone who lifts a yoke off their neck,
    and I bent down to feed them.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 11:2 A variant reading is the more they called them, the more they went away from them.
  2. Hosea 11:3 The text of the pronouns in this verse is uncertain. The translation follows the Greek Old Testament.
  3. Hosea 11:4 Literally cords of mankind. The words translated man and love have homonyms meaning leather, so there may be a play on words here.

But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.[a](A)
They sacrificed to the Baals(B)
    and they burned incense to images.(C)
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    taking them by the arms;(D)
but they did not realize
    it was I who healed(E) them.
I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.(F)
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed(G) them.(H)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 11:2 Septuagint; Hebrew them