Hosea 13
Baal Worshipers and Calf Worshipers to be Destroyed
13:1 When Ephraim1 spoke,2 there was terror;3
he was exalted4 in Israel,
but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.
13:2 Even now they persist in sin!5
They make metal images for themselves,
idols that they skillfully fashion6 from their own silver;
all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen!
There is a saying about them:7
“Those who sacrifice8 to the calf idol are calf kissers!”9
13:3 Therefore they will disappear like10 the morning mist,11
like early morning dew that evaporates,12
like chaff that is blown away13 from a threshing floor,
like smoke that disappears through an open window.
Well-Fed Israel Will Be Fed to Wild Animals
13:4 But I am the
who brought you out of Egypt.
Therefore, you must not acknowledge any God but me;
except me there is no Savior.
13:5 I cared14 for you in the wilderness,
in the dry desert where no water was.15
13:6 When they were fed,16 they became satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;17
as a result, they forgot me!
13:7 So18 I will pounce on them like a lion;19
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
13:8 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.
Israel’s King Unable to Deliver the Nation
13:9 I will destroy you,20 O Israel!
Who21 is there to help you?
13:10 Where22 then is your king,
that he may save you in all your cities?
Where are23 your rulers for whom you asked, saying,
“Give me a king and princes”?
13:11 I granted24 you a king in my anger,
and I will take him away in my wrath!
Israel’s Punishment Will Not Be Withheld Much Longer
13:12 The punishment25 of Ephraim has been decreed;26
his punishment is being stored up for the future.
13:13 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!
The Lord Will Not Relent from the Threatened Judgment
13:14 Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not!27
Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not!
O Death, bring on your plagues!28
O Sheol, bring on your destruction!29
My eyes will not show any compassion!30
The Capital of the Northern Empire Will Be Destroyed
13:15 Even though he flourishes like a reed plant,31
a scorching east wind will come,
a wind from the
As a result, his spring will dry up;32
his well will become dry.
That wind33 will spoil all his delightful foods
in the containers in his storehouse.
13:16 (14:1)34 Samaria will be held guilty,35
because she rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword,
their infants will be dashed to the ground –
their36 pregnant women will be ripped open.