Hosea 13

13 ¹ When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he became guilty through Baal, and he died.

² And now they sin more and more, making molded idols for themselves — silver images shaped by their own skill, all of them the work of craftsmen. To these they say, "Let those who sacrifice kiss the calves! ³ Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the dew that fades early away, like chaff swirling from the threshing floor, and like smoke from a window.

⁴ But I am your Father, who brought you from the land of Egypt; you acknowledge no Father but me, and besides me there is no savior. ⁵ It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of burning drought. ⁶ When I fed them they were satisfied; they were satisfied, and their heart grew proud; therefore they forgot me. ⁷ So I have become like a lion to them; like a leopard I lurk beside the road. ⁸ I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open the covering of their heart. There I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them apart.

⁹ Israel, you bring destruction on yourself by being against me — against your helper. ¹⁰ Where now is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are your rulers, of whom you said, "Give me a king and princes ¹¹ I gave you a king in my anger, and in my wrath I took him away.

¹² The guilt of Ephraim is sealed away; his sin is stored up. ¹³ The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son; for when the time arrives, he does not come out at the opening of the womb. ^a a v13 The picture is of a baby who refuses to come out at birth — Ephraim is too foolish to respond to the crisis calling for repentance.

¹⁴ From the power of the grave I will ransom them; from death I will redeem them. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O the grave, is your destruction? Relenting is hidden from my eyes. ^b b v14 When Jesus rose from the grave, our Father turned these very words into a shout of victory — Paul echoes them: "Death, where is your sting?" The grave could not hold the children our Father came to ransom.

¹⁵ Though he flourishes among the reeds, an east wind will come — a wind of our Father rising from the wilderness. His spring will fail and his fountain run dry; it will plunder his treasury of every precious thing. ¹⁶ Samaria will bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her Father. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.