Hosea

I fell in love with IsraelWhen he was still a child;And I have called [him] My sonEver since Egypt.

aMeaning of parts of vv. 2–7 uncertain. Thus were they called,But they went their own way;They sacrifice to BaalimbBaalim Emendation yields “calves”; cf. 8.4–6; 13.2. And offer to carved images.

I have pampered Ephraim,Taking them in MycMy Heb. “his.” arms;dpampered Ephraim, / Taking them in My arms; Or “taught Ephraim to walk, / Taking him by his arms.” But they have ignoredMy healing care.

I drew them with human ties,ehuman ties Perhaps the ropes with which parents gently teach their children to walk; cf. Rashi, Kimhi. With cords of love;But I seemed to them as oneWho imposed a yoke on their jaws,Though I was offering them food.fBut I seemed to them as one / Who imposed a yoke on their jaws, / Though I was offering them food. Or “I became to them like those / Who lift the harness from their mouths, / And I stooped and fed them.”

No!They return to the land of Egypt,And Assyria is their king.Because they refuse to repent,

A sword shall descend upon their townsgtowns Emendation yields “bodies,” lit. “skins”; cf. Job 18.13. And consume their limbsAnd devour [them] because of their designs.h[them] because of their designs Emendation yields “their bones.”

For My people persistsIn its defection from Me;When it is summoned upward,It does not rise at all.iFor My people … rise at all Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?How surrender you, O Israel?How can I make you like Admah,Render you like Zeboiim?jAdmah…Zeboiim Towns that were destroyed along with neighboring Sodom and Gomorrah; cf. Gen. 10.19; 14.2, 8; Deut. 29.22. I have had a change of heart,All My tenderness is stirred.

I will not act on My wrath,Will not turn to destroy Ephraim.For I am God—not human—The Holy One in your midst:I will not come in fury.kThe Holy One … in fury Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

GOD will roar like a lion—Whom they shall march behind;With that roar, God’s children shall comeFluttering out of the west.

They shall flutter from Egypt like sparrows,From the land of Assyria like doves;And I will settle them in their homes—declares GOD.