Hosea
7
- "Whenever I would restore the fortunes
of my people, whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into
houses, bandits rob in the streets;
- but they do not realize that I remember
all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.
- "They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.
- They are all adulterers, burning like an
oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till
it rises.
- On the day of the festival of our king the
princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers.
- Their hearts are like an oven; they approach
him with intrigue. Their passion smolders all night; in the morning it blazes
like a flaming fire.
- All of them are hot as an oven; they devour
their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.
- "Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim
is a flat cake not turned over.
- Foreigners sap his strength, but he does
not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice.
- Israel's arrogance testifies against him,
but despite all this he does not return to the LORD his God or search for
him.
- "Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived
and senseless -- now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria.
- When they go, I will throw my net over them;
I will pull them down like birds of the air. When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
- Woe to them, because they have strayed from
me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to
redeem them but they speak lies against me.
- They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail upon their beds. They gather together for grain and new wine but
turn away from me.
- I trained them and strengthened them, but
they plot evil against me.
- They do not turn to the Most High; they
are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their
insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
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