Hosea 13

¹ When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he incurred guilt through Baal and died.

² And now they sin more and more;
they make for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made from their silver —
all of them the work of craftsmen.
They say of them,
"Let those who sacrifice kiss the calves!"

³ Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like dew that vanishes early,
like chaff that swirls from a threshing floor,
like smoke from a window.

⁴ But I am the LORD your God
from the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
and besides me there is no savior.

⁵ It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought.

⁶ When they had pasture, they were satisfied;
when satisfied, their hearts became proud;
therefore they forgot me.

⁷ So I will be like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.

⁸ I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs;
I will tear open their chest.
There I will devour them like a lion;
a wild beast will rip them apart.

⁹ It is your destruction, O Israel,
that you are against me, against your helper.

¹⁰ Where now is your king,
that he may save you in all your cities?
And your rulers of whom you said,
"Give me a king and princes"?

¹¹ I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.

¹² The guilt of Ephraim is stored up;
his sin is kept on record.

¹³ The pains of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
at the opening of the womb.

¹⁴ From the power of Sheol I will ransom them;
from death I will redeem them.
Where, O Death, are your plagues?
Where, O Sheol, is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵ Though he flourishes among his brothers,
an east wind will come —
the wind of the LORD rising from the wilderness —
and his spring will dry up,
and his fountain will be parched.
It will strip his treasury
of every precious thing.

¹⁶ Samaria will bear her guilt,
for she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to pieces,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open.