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when I would heal Israel,
and the corruption of Ephraim is revealed,
    and the wicked deeds of Samaria;
because they deal in falsehood,
    the thief breaks in,[a]
    and the bandit raids the outside.
But they did not consider[b]
    that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds surround them;
    they are before my face.
By their wickedness they make the king glad,
    and the officials by their treacheries.
All of them commit adultery,
    like a burning oven
whose baker has stopped from stirring the fire,
    and from kneading the dough until it is leavened.
On the day of our king, the princes
    became sick with the heat of wine;[c]
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
    Because they are kindled[d] like an oven,
their heart burns within them;
    all night their anger smolders,[e]
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
All of them are hot as an oven,
    and they devour[f] their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
    there is none who calls to me amongst them.
Ephraim mixes himself
    with the nations;
Ephraim is a bread cake
    not turned over.
Foreigners devour[g] his strength,
    and he does not know it;
mold[h] is also sprinkled upon him,
    and he does not know it.
10 The pride of Israel testifies against him[i]
    they do not return to Yahweh their God;
    they do not seek him for all of this.[j]
11 Ephraim was like a dove,
    silly, without sense;[k]
they call to Egypt,
    they go to Assyria.
12 Just as they go, I will cast my net
    over them;
I will bring them down
        like the birds[l] of the heavens;[m]
    I will discipline them
        according to a report to their assembly.[n]
13 Woe to them, because they have strayed from me!
    Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me!
I myself would redeem them,
    but they speak lies against me.
14 They do not cry out to me from their heart,
    but they wail on their beds;
because of grain and new wine they lacerate[o] themselves;
    they depart from me.
15 And I myself trained
    and strengthened their arms;
        but they plan evil against me.
16 They turn, not to the Most High,[p]
    like a slack bow;
their officials will fall by the sword
    because of the anger of their tongue.
This is their scorn[q]
    in the land of Egypt.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 7:1 Or “comes in”
  2. Hosea 7:2 Literally “But they did not say to their heart”
  3. Hosea 7:5 This phrase refers to the effects of wine on the body
  4. Hosea 7:6 Hebrew “they drew near;” other ancient translations read “they are kindled”
  5. Hosea 7:6 Literally “sleeps”
  6. Hosea 7:7 Or “they eat”
  7. Hosea 7:9 Or “Foreigners eat”
  8. Hosea 7:9 Literally “grey hair,” but in this case the word refers to the “hairs of mold” on food
  9. Hosea 7:10 Literally “answers against his face”
  10. Hosea 7:10 Or “in all of this”
  11. Hosea 7:11 Literally “without heart”
  12. Hosea 7:12 Hebrew “bird”
  13. Hosea 7:12 Or “sky”
  14. Hosea 7:12 Hebrew uncertain
  15. Hosea 7:14 Or “gash”
  16. Hosea 7:16 Hebrew uncertain; the NRSV translates “to that which does not profit”; the NASB translates “but not upward”
  17. Hosea 7:16 The NRSV translates “So much for their babbling”