Hosea
Hosea
Hosea
AUDIENCE:
The people of Israel (the northern kingdom)
PURPOSE:
To illustrate God’s faithful love for his sinful people.
The suffering that Hosea endured was a direct result of his obedience to God. As directed, Hosea took Gomer to be his wife. Her life as a prostitute undoubtedly brought Hosea shame and humiliation. He and their children may have endured ridicule, slander, and exclusion from the wider community. They would have understood the pain of loneliness.
Hosea and their children felt the kind of rejection from Gomer that some individuals with disabilities experience. Gomer not only rejected God, but also shunned her family each time she chose to live as a prostitute. The Lord made it clear that he loved Hosea; yet, Hosea must have felt unaccepted and unwanted because the woman that God called him to marry repeatedly rejected him. However, Hosea’s love for Gomer in the midst of suffering rejection is meant to display the deep and often painful love that God has for his people.
SUFFERING AND DISABILITY THEMES
God is not immune to suffering in his relationship with human beings. God often uses ordinary people in familiar social settings to communicate his messages. In the book of Hosea, the prophet’s life is a metaphor for God’s covenant faithfulness to his people. The Lord commanded Hosea to enter into a relationship that would cause immense personal suffering and to remain faithful in the midst of the pain. This serves as a picture of God’s faithful love for his people despite their rebellious behavior.
God willingly suffers for his people. Modern notions of romance do not drive God’s love, nor is it based on mere feelings. It is rooted and grounded in his character, which does not change like the shifting sands. Despite Israel’s waywardness, God’s love is steadfast. Suffering will not deter him. Believers in every generation can rest in that truth. Even when waywardness grips our hearts, Hosea assures us that God relentlessly pursues his people and works to draw them all back to himself.
1The LORD gave this message to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2When the LORD first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the LORD and worshiping other gods.”
3So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son. 4And the LORD said, “Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence. 5I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”
6Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. 7But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the LORD their God.”
8After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son. 9And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.
“Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’ 11Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be—the day of Jezreel—when God will again plant his people in his land.
2:1“In that day you will call your brothers Ammi—‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah—‘The ones I love.’
Charges against an Unfaithful Wife
2“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother—
for she is no longer my wife,
and I am no longer her husband.
Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face
and the clothing that exposes her breasts.
3Otherwise, I will strip her as naked
as she was on the day she was born.
I will leave her to die of thirst,
as in a dry and barren wilderness.
4And I will not love her children,
for they were conceived in prostitution.
5Their mother is a shameless prostitute
and became pregnant in a shameful way.
She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers
and sell myself to them for food and water,
for clothing of wool and linen,
and for olive oil and drinks.’
6“For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes.
I will block her path with a wall
to make her lose her way.
7When she runs after her lovers,
she won’t be able to catch them.
She will search for them
but not find them.
Then she will think,
‘I might as well return to my husband,
for I was better off with him than I am now.’
8She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has—
the grain, the new wine, the olive oil;
I even gave her silver and gold.
But she gave all my gifts to Baal.
9“But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine
I generously provided each harvest season.
I will take away the wool and linen clothing
I gave her to cover her nakedness.
10I will strip her naked in public,
while all her lovers look on.
No one will be able
to rescue her from my hands.
11I will put an end to her annual festivals,
her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days—
all her appointed festivals.
12I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees,
things she claims her lovers gave her.
I will let them grow into tangled thickets,
where only wild animals will eat the fruit.
13I will punish her for all those times
when she burned incense to her images of Baal,
when she put on her earrings and jewels
and went out to look for her lovers
but forgot all about me,”
says the LORD.
The LORD’s Love for Unfaithful Israel
14“But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there.
15I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.
She will give herself to me there,
as she did long ago when she was young,
when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
16When that day comes,” says the LORD,
“you will call me ‘my husband’
instead of ‘my master.’
17O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips,
and you will never mention them again.
18On that day I will make a covenant
with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky
and the animals that scurry along the ground
so they will not harm you.
I will remove all weapons of war from the land,
all swords and bows,
so you can live unafraid
in peace and safety.
19I will make you my wife forever,
showing you righteousness and justice,
unfailing love and compassion.
20I will be faithful to you and make you mine,
and you will finally know me as the LORD.
21“In that day, I will answer,”
says the LORD.
“I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds.
And the sky will answer the earth with rain.
22Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries
of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees.
And they in turn will answer,
‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’
23At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites
and raise them for myself.
I will show love
to those I called ‘Not loved.’
And to those I called ‘Not my people,’
I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’
And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”
Hosea’s Wife Is Redeemed
Then the LORD said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the LORD still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.”
2So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine. 3Then I said to her, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me.”
4This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols! 5But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the LORD their God and to David’s descendant, their king. In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the LORD and of his goodness.
The LORD’s Case against Israel
1Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel!
The LORD has brought charges against you, saying:
“There is no faithfulness, no kindness,
no knowledge of God in your land.
2You make vows and break them;
you kill and steal and commit adultery.
There is violence everywhere—
one murder after another.
3That is why your land is in mourning,
and everyone is wasting away.
Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea are disappearing.
4“Don’t point your finger at someone else
and try to pass the blame!
My complaint, you priests,
is with you.
5So you will stumble in broad daylight,
and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.
And I will destroy Israel, your mother.
6My people are being destroyed
because they don’t know me.
Since you priests refuse to know me,
I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
I will forget to bless your children.
7The more priests there are,
the more they sin against me.
They have exchanged the glory of God
for the shame of idols.
8“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.
So the priests are glad when the people sin!
9‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’
So now I will punish both priests and people
for their wicked deeds.
10They will eat and still be hungry.
They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it,
for they have deserted the LORD
11to worship other gods.
“Wine has robbed my people
of their understanding.
12They ask a piece of wood for advice!
They think a stick can tell them the future!
Longing after idols
has made them foolish.
They have played the prostitute,
serving other gods and deserting their God.
13They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops.
They go up into the hills to burn incense
in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees.
“That is why your daughters turn to prostitution,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
But why should I punish them
for their prostitution and adultery?
For your men are doing the same thing,
sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes.
O foolish people! You refuse to understand,
so you will be destroyed.
15“Though you, Israel, are a prostitute,
may Judah not be guilty of such things.
Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven,
and do not take oaths there in the LORD’s name.
16Israel is stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
So should the LORD feed her
like a lamb in a lush pasture?
17Leave Israel alone,
because she is married to idolatry.
18When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking,
off they go to find some prostitutes.
They love shame more than honor.
19So a mighty wind will sweep them away.
Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.
The Failure of Israel’s Leaders
1“Hear this, you priests.
Pay attention, you leaders of Israel.
Listen, you members of the royal family.
Judgment has been handed down against you.
For you have led the people into a snare
by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.
2You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove.
But I will settle with you for what you have done.
3I know what you are like, O Ephraim.
You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel.
You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband;
you are utterly defiled.
4Your deeds won’t let you return to your God.
You are a prostitute through and through,
and you do not know the LORD.
5“The arrogance of Israel testifies against her;
Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt.
Judah, too, will fall with them.
6When they come with their flocks and herds
to offer sacrifices to the LORD,
they will not find him,
because he has withdrawn from them.
7They have betrayed the honor of the LORD,
bearing children that are not his.
Now their false religion will devour them
along with their wealth.
8“Sound the alarm in Gibeah!
Blow the trumpet in Ramah!
Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven!
Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!
9One thing is certain, Israel:
On your day of punishment,
you will become a heap of rubble.
10“The leaders of Judah have become like thieves.
So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall.
11The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment
because they are determined to worship idols.
12I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool.
I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.
13“When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were,
Israel turned to Assyria—
to the great king there—
but he could neither help nor cure them.
I will be like a lion to Israel,
like a strong young lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces!
I will carry them off,
and no one will be left to rescue them.
15Then I will return to my place
until they admit their guilt and turn to me.
For as soon as trouble comes,
they will earnestly search for me.”
A Call to Repentance
“Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces;
now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
now he will bandage our wounds.
2In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
3Oh, that we might know the LORD!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.”
4“O Israel and Judah,
what should I do with you?” asks the LORD.
“For your love vanishes like the morning mist
and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
5I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—
to slaughter you with my words,
with judgments as inescapable as light.
6I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.
7But like Adam, you broke my covenant
and betrayed my trust.
8“Gilead is a city of sinners,
tracked with footprints of blood.
9Priests form bands of robbers,
waiting in ambush for their victims.
They murder travelers along the road to Shechem
and practice every kind of sin.
10Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel:
My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!
11“O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you,
though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.
Israel’s Love for Wickedness
1“I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great.
Samaria is filled with liars.
Thieves are on the inside
and bandits on the outside!
2Its people don’t realize
that I am watching them.
Their sinful deeds are all around them,
and I see them all.
3“The people entertain the king with their wickedness,
and the princes laugh at their lies.
4They are all adulterers,
always aflame with lust.
They are like an oven that is kept hot
while the baker is kneading the dough.
5On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine,
carousing with those who mock them.
6Their hearts are like an oven
blazing with intrigue.
Their plot smolders through the night,
and in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire.
7Burning like an oven,
they consume their leaders.
They kill their kings one after another,
and no one cries to me for help.
8“The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners,
making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake!
9Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength,
but they don’t even know it.
Their hair is gray,
but they don’t realize they’re old and weak.
10Their arrogance testifies against them,
yet they don’t return to the LORD their God
or even try to find him.
11“The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves,
first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria for help.
12But as they fly about,
I will throw my net over them
and bring them down like a bird from the sky.
I will punish them for all the evil they do.
13“What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me!
Let them die, for they have rebelled against me.
I wanted to redeem them,
but they have told lies about me.
14They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts.
Instead, they sit on their couches and wail.
They cut themselves, begging foreign gods for grain and new wine,
and they turn away from me.
15I trained them and made them strong,
yet now they plot evil against me.
16They look everywhere except to the Most High.
They are as useless as a crooked bow.
Their leaders will be killed by their enemies
because of their insolence toward me.
Then the people of Egypt
will laugh at them.
Israel Harvests the Whirlwind
1“Sound the alarm!
The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the LORD,
for they have broken my covenant
and revolted against my law.
2Now Israel pleads with me,
‘Help us, for you are our God!’
3But it is too late.
The people of Israel have rejected what is good,
and now their enemies will chase after them.
4The people have appointed kings without my consent,
and princes without my approval.
By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold,
they have brought about their own destruction.
5“O Samaria, I reject this calf—
this idol you have made.
My fury burns against you.
How long will you be incapable of innocence?
6This calf you worship, O Israel,
was crafted by your own hands!
It is not God!
Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.
7“They have planted the wind
and will harvest the whirlwind.
The stalks of grain wither
and produce nothing to eat.
And even if there is any grain,
foreigners will eat it.
8The people of Israel have been swallowed up;
they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.
9Like a wild donkey looking for a mate,
they have gone up to Assyria.
The people of Israel have sold themselves—
sold themselves to many lovers.
10But though they have sold themselves to many allies,
I will now gather them together for judgment.
Then they will writhe
under the burden of the great king.
11“Israel has built many altars to take away sin,
but these very altars became places for sinning!
12Even though I gave them all my laws,
they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.
13The people love to offer sacrifices to me,
feasting on the meat,
but I do not accept their sacrifices.
I will hold my people accountable for their sins,
and I will punish them.
They will return to Egypt.
14Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces,
and Judah has fortified its cities.
Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities
and will burn up their fortresses.”
Hosea Announces Israel’s Punishment
1O people of Israel,
do not rejoice as other nations do.
For you have been unfaithful to your God,
hiring yourselves out like prostitutes,
worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.
2So now your harvests will be too small to feed you.
There will be no grapes for making new wine.
3You may no longer stay here in the LORD’s land.
Instead, you will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria you will eat food
that is ceremonially unclean.
4There you will make no offerings of wine to the LORD.
None of your sacrifices there will please him.
They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning.
All who present such sacrifices will be defiled.
They may eat this food themselves,
but they may not offer it to the LORD.
5What then will you do on festival days?
How will you observe the LORD’s festivals?
6Even if you escape destruction from Assyria,
Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis will bury you.
Nettles will take over your treasures of silver;
thistles will invade your ruined homes.
7The time of Israel’s punishment has come;
the day of payment is here.
Soon Israel will know this all too well.
Because of your great sin and hostility,
you say, “The prophets are crazy
and the inspired men are fools!”
8The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God,
yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes.
He faces hostility even in the house of God.
9The things my people do are as depraved
as what they did in Gibeah long ago.
God will not forget.
He will surely punish them for their sins.
10The LORD says, “O Israel, when I first found you,
it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert.
When I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season.
But then they deserted me for Baal-peor,
giving themselves to that shameful idol.
Soon they became vile,
as vile as the god they worshiped.
11The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird,
for your children will not be born
or grow in the womb
or even be conceived.
12Even if you do have children who grow up,
I will take them from you.
It will be a terrible day when I turn away
and leave you alone.
13I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre.
But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.”
14O LORD, what should I request for your people?
I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth
and breasts that give no milk.
15The LORD says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
because of their evil actions.
I will love them no more
because all their leaders are rebels.
16The people of Israel are struck down.
Their roots are dried up,
and they will bear no more fruit.
And if they give birth,
I will slaughter their beloved children.”
My God will reject the people of Israel
because they will not listen or obey.
They will be wanderers,
homeless among the nations.
The LORD’s Judgment against Israel
1How prosperous Israel is—
a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit.
But the richer the people get,
the more pagan altars they build.
The more bountiful their harvests,
the more beautiful their sacred pillars.
2The hearts of the people are fickle;
they are guilty and must be punished.
The LORD will break down their altars
and smash their sacred pillars.
3Then they will say, “We have no king
because we didn’t fear the LORD.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us anyway?”
4They spout empty words
and make covenants they don’t intend to keep.
So injustice springs up among them
like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.
5The people of Samaria tremble in fear
for their calf idol at Beth-aven,
and they mourn for it.
Though its priests rejoice over it,
its glory will be stripped away.
6This idol will be carted away to Assyria,
a gift to the great king there.
Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed,
because its people have trusted in this idol.
7Samaria and its king will be cut off;
they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave.
8And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble.
Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars.
They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!”
and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”
9The LORD says, “O Israel, ever since Gibeah,
there has been only sin and more sin!
You have made no progress whatsoever.
Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked?
10Now whenever it fits my plan,
I will attack you, too.
I will call out the armies of the nations
to punish you for your multiplied sins.
11“Israel is like a trained heifer treading out the grain—
an easy job she loves.
But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck.
I will force Judah to pull the plow
and Israel to break up the hard ground.
12I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,
and you will harvest a crop of love.
Plow up the hard ground of your hearts,
for now is the time to seek the LORD,
that he may come
and shower righteousness upon you.’
13“But you have cultivated wickedness
and harvested a thriving crop of sins.
You have eaten the fruit of lies—
trusting in your military might,
believing that great armies
could make your nation safe.
14Now the terrors of war
will rise among your people.
All your fortifications will fall,
just as when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel.
Even mothers and children
were dashed to death there.
15You will share that fate, Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
When the day of judgment dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
The LORD’s Love for Israel
1“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and I called my son out of Egypt.
2But the more I called to him,
the farther he moved from me,
offering sacrifices to the images of Baal
and burning incense to idols.
3I myself taught Israel how to walk,
leading him along by the hand.
But he doesn’t know or even care
that it was I who took care of him.
4I led Israel along
with my ropes of kindness and love.
I lifted the yoke from his neck,
and I myself stooped to feed him.
5“But since my people refuse to return to me,
they will return to Egypt
and will be forced to serve Assyria.
6War will swirl through their cities;
their enemies will crash through their gates.
They will destroy them,
trapping them in their own evil plans.
7For my people are determined to desert me.
They call me the Most High,
but they don’t truly honor me.
8“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?
How can I let you go?
How can I destroy you like Admah
or demolish you like Zeboiim?
My heart is torn within me,
and my compassion overflows.
9No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.
I will not completely destroy Israel,
for I am God and not a mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living among you,
and I will not come to destroy.
10For someday the people will follow me.
I, the LORD, will roar like a lion.
And when I roar,
my people will return trembling from the west.
11Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt.
Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria.
And I will bring them home again,”
says the LORD.
Charges against Israel and Judah
12Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit,
but Judah still obeys God
and is faithful to the Holy One.
1The people of Israel feed on the wind;
they chase after the east wind all day long.
They pile up lies and violence;
they are making an alliance with Assyria
while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.
2Now the LORD is bringing charges against Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways,
and pay him back for all he has done.
3Even in the womb,
Jacob struggled with his brother;
when he became a man,
he even fought with God.
4Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.
He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.
There at Bethel he met God face to face,
and God spoke to him—
5the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies,
the LORD is his name!
6So now, come back to your God.
Act with love and justice,
and always depend on him.
7But no, the people are like crafty merchants
selling from dishonest scales—
they love to cheat.
8Israel boasts, “I am rich!
I’ve made a fortune all by myself!
No one has caught me cheating!
My record is spotless!”
9“But I am the LORD your God,
who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
And I will make you live in tents again,
as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.
10I sent my prophets to warn you
with many visions and parables.”
11But the people of Gilead are worthless
because of their idol worship.
And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;
their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone
along the edges of a plowed field.
12Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
and there he earned a wife by tending sheep.
13Then by a prophet
the LORD brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt;
and by that prophet
they were protected.
14But the people of Israel
have bitterly provoked the LORD,
so their Lord will now sentence them to death
in payment for their sins.
The LORD’s Anger against Israel
1When the tribe of Ephraim spoke,
the people shook with fear,
for that tribe was important in Israel.
But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal
and thus sealed their destruction.
2Now they continue to sin by making silver idols,
images shaped skillfully with human hands.
“Sacrifice to these,” they cry,
“and kiss the calf idols!”
3Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist,
like dew in the morning sun,
like chaff blown by the wind,
like smoke from a chimney.
4“I have been the LORD your God
ever since I brought you out of Egypt.
You must acknowledge no God but me,
for there is no other savior.
5I took care of you in the wilderness,
in that dry and thirsty land.
6But when you had eaten and were satisfied,
you became proud and forgot me.
7So now I will attack you like a lion,
like a leopard that lurks along the road.
8Like a bear whose cubs have been taken away,
I will tear out your heart.
I will devour you like a hungry lioness
and mangle you like a wild animal.
9“You are about to be destroyed, O Israel—
yes, by me, your only helper.
10Now where is your king?
Let him save you!
Where are all the leaders of the land,
the king and the officials you demanded of me?
11In my anger I gave you kings,
and in my fury I took them away.
12“Ephraim’s guilt has been collected,
and his sin has been stored up for punishment.
13Pain has come to the people
like the pain of childbirth,
but they are like a child
who resists being born.
The moment of birth has arrived,
but they stay in the womb!
14“Should I ransom them from the grave?
Should I redeem them from death?
O death, bring on your terrors!
O grave, bring on your plagues!
For I will not take pity on them.
15Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers,
but the east wind—a blast from the LORD—
will arise in the desert.
All their flowing springs will run dry,
and all their wells will disappear.
Every precious thing they own
will be plundered and carried away.
16The people of Samaria
must bear the consequences of their guilt
because they rebelled against their God.
They will be killed by an invading army,
their little ones dashed to death against the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open by swords.”
Healing for the Repentant
1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for your sins have brought you down.
2Bring your confessions, and return to the LORD.
Say to him,
“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.
3Assyria cannot save us,
nor can our warhorses.
Never again will we say to the idols we have made,
‘You are our gods.’
No, in you alone
do the orphans find mercy.”
4The LORD says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.
5I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
it will send roots deep into the soil
like the cedars in Lebanon.
6Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,
as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.
7My people will again live under my shade.
They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines.
They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.
8“O Israel, stay away from idols!
I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.
I am like a tree that is always green;
all your fruit comes from me.”
9Let those who are wise understand these things.
Let those with discernment listen carefully.
The paths of the LORD are true and right,
and righteous people live by walking in them.
But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.