Hosea 13:1-16 - Yahweh's Judgment On Idolatrous Israel

¹ When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he incurred guilt through Baal and died.

² Now they continue to sin
and make themselves a cast image,
idols skillfully made from their silver,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
People say about them,
“Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves.”
³ Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that vanishes,
like chaff blown from a threshing floor,
or like smoke from a window.

⁴ I have been Yahweh your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but Me,
and no Savior exists besides Me.
⁵ I knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought.
⁶ When they had pasture,
they became satisfied;
they were satisfied,
and their hearts became proud.
Therefore they forgot Me.
⁷ So I will be like a lion to them;
I will lurk like a leopard on the path.
⁸ I will attack them
like a bear robbed of her cubs
and tear open the rib cage over their hearts.
I will devour them there like a lioness,
like a wild beast that would rip them open.
⁹ I will destroy you, Israel;
you have no help but Me.

¹⁰ Where now is your king,
that he may save you in all your cities,
and the rulers you demanded, saying,
“Give me a king and leaders”?
¹¹ I give you a king in My anger
and take away a king in My wrath.
¹² Ephraim’s guilt is preserved;
his sin is stored up.
¹³ Labor pains come on him.
He is not a wise son;
when the time comes,
he will not be born.

¹⁴ I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.
I will redeem them from death.
Death, where are your barbs?
Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

¹⁵ Although he flourishes among his brothers,
an east wind will come,
a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert.
His water source will fail,
and his spring will run dry.
The wind will plunder the treasury
of every precious item.

¹⁶ Samaria will bear her guilt
because she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to pieces,
and their pregnant women ripped open.