Hosea 13

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he became guilty through Baal and died. Now they sin more and more.
They make cast images for themselves from their silver, idols shaped by their own skill, all of them the work of craftsmen.
Of these they say, “Let those who offer sacrifices kiss the calves.” So they will be like a morning cloud, like dew that vanishes early, like chaff whirled from a threshing floor, and like smoke escaping through a lattice. “But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt.
You shall know no god but me, and there is no savior besides me. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of burning drought. When they fed, they were satisfied;
they were satisfied, and their heart grew proud.
That is why they forgot me. So I have become like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will watch by the road. I will meet them like a bear robbed of her cubs and tear open their chests.
There I will devour them like a lion;
a wild beast will tear them apart. Your destruction, Israel, is that you are against me, against your helper. Where now is your king, that he may save you in all your cities?
Where are your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’? I give you a king in my anger and take him away in my wrath. Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up;
his sin is stored away. The pains of childbirth come upon him, but he is an unwise son.
When the time comes, he does not present himself at the opening of the womb. Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
Where are your plagues, Death?
Where is your destruction, Sheol?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes. Though he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come, the wind of the LORD rising from the wilderness.
His spring will dry up, and his fountain will run dry.
He will plunder the treasury of every precious object. Samaria will bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword;
their infants will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.”

Rights and attribution