Hosea 11:7-12:12

New International Version

⁷My people are determined to turn^(A) from me.^(B)
Even though they call me God Most High,
I will by no means exalt them.

⁸“How can I give you up,^(C) Ephraim?^(D)
    How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
    How can I make you like Zeboyim?^(E)
My heart is changed within me;
    all my compassion^(F) is aroused.^(G)
⁹I will not carry out my fierce anger,^(H)
    nor will I devastate^(I) Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man^(J)—
    the Holy One^(K) among you.
    I will not come against their cities.
¹⁰They will follow the Lord;
    he will roar^(L) like a lion.^(M)
When he roars,
    his children will come trembling^(N) from the west.^(O)
¹¹They will come from Egypt,
    trembling like sparrows,
    from Assyria,^(P) fluttering like doves.^(Q)
I will settle them in their homes,”^(R)
    declares the Lord.

Israel’s Sin

¹²Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,^(S)
Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful^(T) Holy One.^[a]^(U)

12 ^[b]¹Ephraim^(V) feeds on the wind;^(W)
    he pursues the east wind all day
    and multiplies lies and violence.^(X)
He makes a treaty with Assyria^(Y)
    and sends olive oil to Egypt.^(Z)
²The Lord has a charge^(AA) to bring against Judah;^(AB)
    he will punish^(AC) Jacob^[c] according to his ways
    and repay him according to his deeds.^(AD)
³In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;^(AE)
    as a man he struggled^(AF) with God.
⁴He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
    he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel^(AG)
    and talked with him there—
⁵the Lord God Almighty,
    the Lord is his name!^(AH)
⁶But you must return^(AI) to your God;
    maintain love and justice,^(AJ)
    and wait for your God always.^(AK)

⁷The merchant uses dishonest scales^(AL)
    and loves to defraud.
⁸Ephraim boasts,^(AM)
    “I am very rich; I have become wealthy.^(AN)
With all my wealth they will not find in me
    any iniquity or sin.”

⁹“I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt;^(AO)
I will make you live in tents^(AP) again,
    as in the days of your appointed festivals.
¹⁰I spoke to the prophets,
    gave them many visions
    and told parables^(AQ) through them.”^(AR)

¹¹Is Gilead wicked?^(AS)
    Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?^(AT)
    Their altars will be like piles of stones
    on a plowed field.^(AU)
¹²Jacob fled to the country of Aram^[d];^(AV)
    Israel served to get a wife,
    and to pay for her he tended sheep.^(AW)

Footnotes

Hosea 11:12 In Hebrew texts this verse (11:12) is numbered 12:1.
Hosea 12:1 In Hebrew texts 12:1-14 is numbered 12:2-15.
Hosea 12:2 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.
Hosea 12:12 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia