My people are bent (A)on turning away from me,
    and though (B)they call out to the Most High,
    he shall not raise them up at all.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
(C)How can I make you (D)like Admah?
    How can I treat you (E)like Zeboiim?
(F)My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
(G)for I am God and not a man,
    (H)the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.[a]

10 (I)They shall go after the Lord;
    (J)he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
    his children shall come trembling (K)from the west;
11 they shall come trembling like birds (L)from Egypt,
    and (M)like doves (N)from the land of Assyria,
    and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
12 [b] Ephraim (O)has surrounded me with lies,
    and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.
12 Ephraim feeds on the wind
    and pursues (P)the east wind all day long;
they multiply (Q)falsehood and violence;
    (R)they make a covenant with Assyria,
    and (S)oil is carried to Egypt.

The Lord's Indictment of Israel and Judah

(T)The Lord has an indictment against Judah
    and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
    he will repay him according to his deeds.
(U)In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
    and in his manhood he strove with God.
He strove with the angel and prevailed;
    he wept and sought his favor.
(V)He met God[c] at Bethel,
    and there God spoke with us—
the Lord, the God of hosts,
    (W)the Lord is his memorial name:
“So you, (X)by the help of your God, return,
    (Y)hold fast to love and justice,
    and wait continually for your God.”

A merchant, in whose hands are (Z)false balances,
    he loves (AA)to oppress.
Ephraim has said, “Ah, but (AB)I am rich;
    I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors (AC)they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
(AD)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you (AE)dwell in tents,
    as in the days of the appointed feast.

10 (AF)I spoke to the prophets;
    it was I who multiplied (AG)visions,
    and through the prophets gave parables.
11 (AH)If there is iniquity in Gilead,
    they shall surely come to nothing:
(AI)in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
    (AJ)their altars also are like stone heaps
    (AK)on the furrows of the field.
12 (AL)Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
    there Israel (AM)served for a wife,
    and for a wife he guarded sheep.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 11:9 Or into the city
  2. Hosea 11:12 Ch 12:1 in Hebrew
  3. Hosea 12:4 Hebrew him

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