Hosea 11:12-14:9

(11.12/12:1) Ephraim has surrounded Me with lies;
the house of Israel with deceit.
But Judah still goes about with God;
he remains faithful to the Holy One.
1 Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;
he chases the east wind all day;
he multiplies lies and violence.
They make a treaty with Assyria,
and send olive oil to Egypt.

2 YHWH also has a lawsuit against Judah;
He will punish Jacob according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he attacked his brother;
in adulthood he struggled with God.
4 He struggled with a messenger and prevailed;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found Him at Bethel,
and there he spoke with Him!
5 As for YHWH God Almighty,
YHWH is His memorial name!
6 But you must return to your God,
by maintaining love and justice
and by waiting for your God.

7 The merchant—in his hand are scales of deceit—
loves to cheat;
they use dishonest scales.
8 Ephraim says, “I am very rich!
I have found wealth for myself!
[in] all my gains,
they will not find guilt in me that would be ‘sin.’”
9 “I am YHWH your God who brought you out of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again as in the days of meeting.
10 I spoke to the prophets;
I myself multiplied vision[s];
I spoke in parables by the hand of the prophets.”
11 Is there wickedness in Gilead?
Certainly they will come to nothing!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!

12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram,
then Israel served to acquire a wife;
he tended sheep to pay for her.
13 YHWH brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet,
and by a prophet he was protected.
14 But he bitterly provoked Him to anger ;
so He will leave his blood upon him,
his Lord will repay him for his contempt.

13 When Ephraim spoke, there was quaking;
he was exalted in Israel,
but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.
2 Even now they add to sin!
They make metal images for themselves,
idols from their own silver according to their skill;
all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen.
They say about them,
“Let those among men who offer sacrifices kiss calves!”
3 Therefore they will be like a cloud of the morning,
like the early rising dew that goes away,
like chaff storm-driven away from a threshing floor,
like smoke that disappears through a window.

4 But I am YHWH your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
Therefore, you must not acknowledge any God but Me.
For there is no Savior besides Me.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness,
in the intensely thirsty land.
6 When they had pasture, they became satisfied;
when they were satisfied, their heart became proud;
as a result, they forgot me!
7 So I will be like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs—
I will rip open their chests.
I will devour them there like a lion—
like a wild animal would tear them apart.

9 I will destroy you, Israel!
Who is there to help you?
10 Where then is your king,
that he may save you in all your cities?
Your rulers, for whom you asked, saying,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I will take him away in My wrath!

12 The punishment of Ephraim has been bound;
his punishment is being stored up for the future.
13 The labor pains of a woman will overtake him,
but the baby will lack wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he will not come out of the womb!

14 Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol?
Will I redeem them from death?
Where, Death, are your plagues?
Where, Sheol, is your destruction?
Compassion will be hidden from my eyes!
15 Even though he flourishes like a reed,
an east wind will come,
a wind from YHWH rising up from the desert.
As a result, his spring will dry up;
his well will become dry.
It will plunder the treasury
of every precious item.

16 Samaria will be held guilty,
because she rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword;
their infants will be dashed to the ground—
his pregnant women will be ripped open.

14 Return, Israel, to YHWH your God,
For you have stumbled in your iniquity!
2 Bring words with you and return to YHWH! (לָקַח)
Say to him: “Completely forgive our iniquity!
Accept our penitential prayer, (לָקַח; cf. Jas 4.8)
that we may offer the bulls of our lips!
3 Assyria will not save us;
we will not ride horses!
We will no longer say, ‘Our gods,’
to the work of our hands!
For the fatherless is shown compassion by You!”

4 “I will heal their waywardness;
I will love them freely,
for My anger will turn from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily,
he will send down his roots like Lebanon.
6 His young shoots will grow;
his splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 People will reside again in his shade;
they will revive the grain.
They will blossom like the vine,
and his renown will be like the wine from Lebanon.
8 Ephraim, I want to have nothing to do with idols anymore!
I will answer him and care for him.
I am a luxuriant cypress tree;
your fruit is found in Me!”

9 Who is wise?
Let him discern these things!
Who is discerning?
Let him understand them!
For the ways of YHWH are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.