Add parallel Print Page Options

“I will heal Israel!
    Then people will know that Ephraim sinned.
They will know about Samaria’s[a] lies.
    They will know about the thieves who come and go in that town.
They don’t believe that I will remember their crimes.
    The bad things they did are all around.
    I can see their sins clearly.
Their evil makes their king happy.
    Their false gods please their leaders.
A baker presses dough to make bread.
    He puts the bread in the oven.
He does not make the fire hotter
    while the bread is rising.
But the people of Israel are not like that.
    They are always making their fire hotter.
On Our King’s Day, the leaders get so drunk that they get sick.
    They become crazy with wine
    and make agreements with people who laugh at God.
The people make their secret plans.
    Their hearts burn with excitement like an oven.
Their excitement burns all night,
    and in the morning it is like a hot fire.
They are all like hot ovens.
    They destroyed their rulers.
All their kings fell.
    Not one of them called to me for help.

Israel and the Nations

“Ephraim mixes with the nations.
    Ephraim is like a cake that was not cooked on both sides.
Strangers destroy Ephraim’s strength,
    but Ephraim does not know it.
Gray hairs[b] are also sprinkled on Ephraim,
    but Ephraim does not know it.
10 Ephraim’s pride speaks against him.
    The people had many troubles,
but they still didn’t go back to the Lord their God.
    They didn’t look to him for help.
11 So Ephraim has become like a silly dove without understanding.
    The people called to Egypt for help.
    They went to Assyria for help.
12 They go to those countries for help,
    but I will trap them.
I will throw my net over them,
    and I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.
    I will punish them for their agreements.[c]
13 It will be very bad for those who left me.
    They refused to obey me, so they will be destroyed.
I saved them,
    but they speak lies against me.
14 They never call to me from their hearts.
    Yes, they cry on their beds.
And they cut themselves when they ask for grain and new wine.
    But in their hearts, they have turned away from me.
15 I trained them and made their arms strong,
    but they made evil plans against me.
16 Like a boomerang, they changed directions,
    but they did not come back to me.[d]
Their leaders bragged about their strength,
    but they will be killed with swords.
And the people in Egypt
    will laugh at them.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 7:1 Samaria The capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel.
  2. Hosea 7:9 Gray hairs This word might describe something that was put on the food when people cooked, something that looked like gray hairs.
  3. Hosea 7:12 for their agreements Or “for the report of their treaties.”
  4. Hosea 7:16 they changed … to me Or “They turned, but not upward” or “They turned to the ‘no-gods.’” That is, the statues people worshiped as gods.

whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
    and the crimes of Samaria revealed.(A)
They practice deceit,(B)
    thieves break into houses,(C)
    bandits rob in the streets;(D)
but they do not realize
    that I remember(E) all their evil deeds.(F)
Their sins engulf them;(G)
    they are always before me.

“They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.(H)
They are all adulterers,(I)
    burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
    from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
On the day of the festival of our king
    the princes become inflamed with wine,(J)
    and he joins hands with the mockers.(K)
Their hearts are like an oven;(L)
    they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,(M)
    and none of them calls(N) on me.

“Ephraim mixes(O) with the nations;
    Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
Foreigners sap his strength,(P)
    but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
    but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,(Q)
    but despite all this
he does not return(R) to the Lord his God
    or search(S) for him.

11 “Ephraim is like a dove,(T)
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,(U)
    now turning to Assyria.(V)
12 When they go, I will throw my net(W) over them;
    I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
    I will catch them.
13 Woe(X) to them,
    because they have strayed(Y) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me(Z) falsely.(AA)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts(AB)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[a] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,(AC)
    but they turn away from me.(AD)
15 I trained(AE) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil(AF) against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;(AG)
    they are like a faulty bow.(AH)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent(AI) words.
For this they will be ridiculed(AJ)
    in the land of Egypt.(AK)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 7:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts They gather together