Hosea 13 – NIV & NIRV

New International Version

Hosea 13:1-16

The Lord’s Anger Against Israel

1When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;

he was exalted in Israel.

But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.

2Now they sin more and more;

they make idols for themselves from their silver,

cleverly fashioned images,

all of them the work of craftsmen.

It is said of these people,

“They offer human sacrifices!

They kiss13:2 Or “Men who sacrifice / kiss calf-idols!”

3Therefore they will be like the morning mist,

like the early dew that disappears,

like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,

like smoke escaping through a window.

4“But I have been the Lord your God

ever since you came out of Egypt.

You shall acknowledge no God but me,

no Savior except me.

5I cared for you in the wilderness,

in the land of burning heat.

6When I fed them, they were satisfied;

when they were satisfied, they became proud;

then they forgot me.

7So I will be like a lion to them,

like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

8Like a bear robbed of her cubs,

I will attack them and rip them open;

like a lion I will devour them—

a wild animal will tear them apart.

9“You are destroyed, Israel,

because you are against me, against your helper.

10Where is your king, that he may save you?

Where are your rulers in all your towns,

of whom you said,

‘Give me a king and princes’?

11So in my anger I gave you a king,

and in my wrath I took him away.

12The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,

his sins are kept on record.

13Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him,

but he is a child without wisdom;

when the time arrives,

he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.

14“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;

I will redeem them from death.

Where, O death, are your plagues?

Where, O grave, is your destruction?

“I will have no compassion,

15even though he thrives among his brothers.

An east wind from the Lord will come,

blowing in from the desert;

his spring will fail

and his well dry up.

His storehouse will be plundered

of all its treasures.

16The people of Samaria must bear their guilt,

because they have rebelled against their God.

They will fall by the sword;

their little ones will be dashed to the ground,

their pregnant women ripped open.”13:16 In Hebrew texts this verse (13:16) is numbered 14:1.

New International Reader’s Version

Hosea 13:1-16

The Lord Is Angry With Israel

1When the tribe of Ephraim spoke,

the other tribes trembled with fear.

Ephraim was honored in Israel.

But its people sinned by worshiping Baal.

So they were as good as dead.

2Now they sin more and more.

They use their silver

to make statues of gods for themselves.

The statues come from their own clever ideas.

Skilled workers make all of them.

The people pray to these gods.

They offer human sacrifices to them.

They kiss the gods that look like calves.

3So these people will vanish like the morning mist.

They will soon disappear like the early dew.

They will be like straw

that the wind blows around on a threshing floor.

They will be like smoke

that escapes through a window.

4The Lord says,

“People of Israel, I have been the Lord your God

ever since you came out of Egypt.

You must not worship any god but me.

You must not have any savior except me.

5I took care of you in the desert.

It was a land of burning heat.

6I fed them until they were satisfied.

Then they became proud.

They forgot all about me.

7So I will leap on them like a lion.

I will hide and wait

beside the road like a leopard.

8I will attack them like a bear

that is robbed of her cubs.

I will rip them wide open.

Like a lion I will eat them up.

Like a wild animal I will tear them apart.

9“Israel, you will be destroyed.

I helped you. But you turned against me.

10Where is your king?

Wasn’t he supposed to save you?

Where are the rulers in all your towns?

You said, ‘Give us a king and princes.’

11So I became angry and gave you a king.

Then I took him away from you.

12Ephraim’s guilt is piling up.

I am keeping a record of all their sins.

13They will suffer pain like a woman having a baby.

They are like foolish children.

It is time for them to be born.

But they don’t have the sense to come out of their mother’s body.

14“I will set these people free from the power of the grave.

I will save them from death.

Death, where are your plagues?

Grave, where is your power to destroy?

“I will no longer pity Ephraim.

15Even though they are doing well among the other tribes,

trouble will come to them.

I will send a hot and dry wind from the east.

It will blow in from the desert.

Their springs will not have any water.

Their wells will dry up.

All their treasures

will be taken out of their storerooms.

16The people of Samaria must pay for their sins.

They have refused to obey me.

They will be killed by swords.

Their little children will be smashed on the ground.

Their pregnant women will be ripped wide open.”