Hosea 13
1“When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. 1 He exalted himself in Israel, 1 but he became guilty because of Baal worship, and he died. 1
2Now they sin more and more. 1 They make cast metal figures from their silver, 1 idols as skillfully worked as possible, 1 all of them the work of the craftsmen. 1 People say of them, 1 'These men who sacrifice kiss calves.' 1
3So they will be like the morning clouds, 1 like the dew that goes away early, 1 like the chaff that is driven by the wind away from a threshing floor, 1 and like smoke out of a chimney. 1
4But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. 1 You must acknowledge no God but me; 1 you must acknowledge that besides me, there is no other savior. 1
5I knew you in the wilderness, 1 in the land of great dryness. 1
6When you had pasture, then you became full; 1 and when you were filled, your heart became lifted up. 1 For that reason you forgot me. 1
7I will become like a lion to them; 1 like a leopard I will watch along the path. 1
8I will attack them as a bear that is robbed of her cubs. 1 I will rip open their chests, 1 and there I will devour them as a lion, 1 as a wild beast would tear them to pieces. 1
9I will destroy you, Israel; 1 who will be able to help you? 1
10Where now is your king, 1 that he may save you in all your cities? 1 Where are your rulers, about whom you said to me, 1 'Give me a king and princes'? 1
11I gave you a king in my anger, 1 and I took him away in my wrath. 1
12Ephraim's iniquity has been stored up; 1 his guilt has been stored up. 1
13Pains of childbirth will come on him, 1 but he is an unwise son, 1 for when it is time to be born, he does not come out of the womb. 1
14Will I rescue them from the hand of Sheol? 1 Will I rescue them from death? 1 Where, death, are your plagues? 1 Where, Sheol, is your destruction? 1 Compassion is hidden from my eyes.” 1
15Though Ephraim is prosperous among his brothers, 1 an east wind will come; 1 the wind of Yahweh will blow in from the wilderness. 1 Ephraim's spring will dry up, 1 and his well will have no water. 1 His enemy will plunder his storehouse of every precious object. 1
16Samaria will be guilty, 1 for she has rebelled against her God. 1 They will fall by the sword; 1 their young children will be dashed to pieces, 1 and their pregnant women will be ripped open.