Hosea

When Ephraim spoke piety,He was exalted in Israel;But he incurred guilt through Baal,aBaal I.e., Baal-peor; cf. 9.10. And so he died.

And now they go on sinning;They have made them molten images,Idols, by their skill, from their silver,Wholly the work of artisans.Yet for these they appoint people to sacrifice;bYet for these they appoint people to sacrifice Meaning of Heb. uncertain. They are wont to kiss calves!

Assuredly,They shall be like morning clouds,Like dew so early gone;Like chaff whirled away from the threshing floor.And like smoke from a lattice.

Only I the ETERNAL One have been your GodEver since the land of Egypt;You have never known a [true] God but Me,You have never had a helper other than Me.

I looked after you in the desert,In a thirsty land.

When they grazed, they were sated;When they were sated, they grew haughty;And so they forgot Me.

So I am become like a lion to them,Like a leopard I lurk on the way;

Like a bear robbed of her young I attack themAnd rip open the casing of their hearts;I will devour them there like a lion,cI will devour them there like a lion Emendation yields “There dogs shall devour them”; cf. Septuagint. The beasts of the field shall mangle them.

dMeaning of verse uncertain. You are undone, O Israel!You had no help but Me.

Where now is your king?Let him save you!Where are the chieftains in all your townsFrom whom you demanded:“Give me a king and officers”?

I give you kings in My ire,And take them away in My wrath.

Ephraim’s guilt is bound up,His sin is stored away.estored away For future retribution.

Pangs of childbirth assail him,And the babe is not wise—For this is no time to surviveAt the birthstool of babes.fAnd the babe … birthstool of babes Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

gThis verse would read well before 14.5. From Sheol itself I will save them,Redeem them from very Death.Where, O Death, are your plagues?Your pestilence where, O Sheol?Revenge shall be far from My thoughts.hRevenge shall be far from My thoughts Lit. “Satisfaction (for this meaning of nḥm see Deut. 32.36; Isa. 1.24) shall be hidden from My eyes.”

For though he flourish among reeds,A blast, a wind of GOD,Shall come blowing up from the wilderness;His fountain shall be parched,His spring dried up.That [wind] shall plunder treasures,Every lovely object.