Hosea 13:1-11 ▼

1 When Ephraim spoke, there was terror; he was exalted in Israel, but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.

2 Even now they persist in sin! They make metal images for themselves, idols that they skillfully fashion from their own silver; all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen! There is a saying about them: |Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!|

3 Therefore they will disappear like the morning mist, like early morning dew that evaporates, like chaff that is blown away from a threshing floor, like smoke that disappears through an open window.

4 But I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Therefore, you must not acknowledge any God but me; except me there is no Savior.

5 I cared for you in the wilderness, in the dry desert where no water was.

6 When they were fed, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; as a result, they forgot me!

7 So I will pounce on them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs--I will rip open their chests. I will devour them there like a lion--like a wild animal would tear them apart.

9 I will destroy you, O Israel! Who is there to help you?

10 Where then is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are your rulers for whom you asked, saying, |Give me a king and princes|?

11 I granted you a king in my anger, and I will take him away in my wrath!