Sep 26 - Hosea 7-12

¹When I was willing to heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the malice of Samaria, for they had been manufacturing lies. And the thief steals from inside, the robber from outside²And, so that they may not say in their hearts that I am the one who has called to mind all of their wickedness: now their own inventions have encircled them. These things have happened in my presence³The king has rejoiced at their wickedness, and the leaders have rejoiced in their lies⁴They are all adulterers; like an oven heating up before baking, the city rested a little before the leaven was mixed in, until the whole was leavened⁵On the day of our king, the leaders began to be mad with wine; he extended his hand with those who fabricate illusions⁶For they have used their heart like an oven, while he laid snares for them; he slept through the night baking them, and by morning he himself was heated like a burning fire⁷They have all become hot like an oven, and they have devoured their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one who calls to me among them⁸Ephraim himself has been mingled with the nations. Ephraim has become like bread, baked under ashes, that has not been turned over⁹Strangers have devoured his strength, and he did not know it. And grey hairs also have spread across him, and he is ignorant of it¹⁰And the pride of Israel will be brought low before his face, for they have not returned to the Lord their God, nor have they sought him in all of this¹¹And Ephraim has become like a pigeon that has been led astray, not having a heart; for they called upon Egypt, they went to the Assyrians¹²And when they will set out, I will spread my net over them. I will pull them down like the birds of the sky; I will cut them down in accordance with the reports of their meetings¹³Woe to them, for they have withdrawn from me. They will waste away because they have been dishonest with me. And I redeemed them, and they have spoken lies against me¹⁴And they have not cried out to me in their heart, but they howled on their beds. They have obsessed about wheat and wine; they have withdrawn from me¹⁵And I have educated them, and I have reinforced their arms; and they have imagined evil against me¹⁶They returned so that they might be without a yoke. They have become like a deceitful bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of the madness of their words. This is their derision in the land of Egypt

Chapter 8

¹Let there be a trumpet in your throat, like an eagle over the house of the Lord, on behalf of those who have transgressed my covenant and violated my law²They will call on me: "O my God, we, Israel, know you.³Israel has thrown away goodness; the enemy will overtake him⁴They have reigned, but not by me. Leaders have emerged, and I did not recognize them. Their silver and their gold, they have made into idols for themselves, so that they might cross over⁵Your calf, Samaria, has been rejected. My fury has been enraged against them. How long will they be incapable of being cleansed⁶For it is itself also from Israel: a workman made it, and it is not God. For the calf of Samaria will be used for the webs of spiders⁷For they will sow wind and reap a whirlwind. It does not have a firm stalk; the bud will yield no grain. But if it does yield, strangers will eat it⁸Israel has been devoured. Now, among the nations, it has become like an unclean vessel⁹For they have gone up to Assur, a wild ass alone by himself. Ephraim has given presents to his lovers¹⁰But even when they will have brought the nations together for the sake of money, now I will assemble them. And they will rest for a little while from the burden of the king and the leaders¹¹For Ephraim multiplied altars to sin, and sanctuaries have become an offense for him¹²I will write to him my intricate laws, which have been treated like strangers¹³They will offer victims, they will immolate flesh and will eat, and the Lord will not accept them. For now he will remember their iniquity, and he will repay their sins: they will be turned back to Egypt¹⁴And Israel has forgotten his Maker and has built shrines. And Judah has increased its fortified cities. And I will send fire upon his cities, and it will devour its structures

Chapter 9

¹Do not choose to rejoice, Israel; do not celebrate as the crowds do. For you have been committing fornication against your God; you have loved a prize upon every threshing floor of wheat²The threshing floor and the oil press will not feed them, and the wine will deceive them³They will not dwell in the land of the Lord. Ephraim has been returned to Egypt, and he has eaten polluted things among the Assyrians⁴They will not offer a libation of wine to the Lord, and they will not please him. Their sacrifices will be like the bread of mourners. All those who eat it will be defiled. For their bread is of their soul; it will not enter into the house of the Lord⁵What will you do on the solemn day, on the day of the feast of the Lord⁶For, behold, they have been sent away by devastation. Egypt will gather them together; Memphis will bury them. Nettles will inherit their desired silver; the burr will be in their tabernacles⁷The days of visitation have arrived; the days of retribution are here. Know this, Israel: that the prophet was foolish, the spiritual man was mad, because of the multitude of your iniquities and the great extent of your foolishness⁸The watcher of Ephraim was with my God. The prophet has become a snare of ruin over all his ways; insanity is in the house of his God⁹They have sinned profoundly, just as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity, and he will repay their sin¹⁰I discovered Israel like grapes in the desert. Like the first fruits of the fig tree, I saw their fathers on the end of its branches. But they went in to Baal-peor, and they have been estranged by intermingling, and they have became abominable, just like the things that they chose to love¹¹Ephraim has chased away their glory like a bird: from birth, and from the womb, and from conception¹²And even if they should nurture their sons, I will make them without children among men. Yes, and woe to them, when I have withdrawn from them¹³Ephraim, as I see it, was a Tyre, founded by beauty. And Ephraim will lead his sons to execution¹⁴Give them, O Lord. What will you give them? Give them a womb without children, and dry breasts¹⁵All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for I held them there, in their hatred. Because of the malice of their inventions, I will expel them from my house. I will no longer say that I love them; all their leaders have retreated¹⁶Ephraim has been struck; their root has been dried out: by no means will they yield fruit. And even if they should conceive, I will execute the most beloved of their womb¹⁷My God will cast them aside because they have not listened to him; and they will be wanderers among the nations

Chapter 10

¹Israel is a leafy vine, its fruit has been suitable to him. According to the multitude of his fruit, he has multiplied altars; according to the fertility of his land, he has abounded with graven images²His heart has been divided, so now they will cross the divide. He will break apart their images; he will plunder their sanctuaries³For now they will say, "We have no king. For we do not fear the Lord. And what would a king do for us?⁴You speak words about a useless vision, and you will strike a deal. And judgment will spring up like bitterness in the furrows of the field⁵The inhabitants of Samaria have worshipped the calf of Bethaven. For the keepers of its temple, who had exulted over it in its glory, and its people, have mourned over it because it migrated from there⁶If, indeed, it also has been offered to Assur, as a gift for the Avenging king, confusion will seize Ephraim, and Israel will be confounded by his own will⁷Samaria has required her king to pass by, like foam on the face of the water⁸And the heights of the idol, the sin of Israel, will be utterly destroyed. The burr and the thistle will rise up over their altars. And they will say to the mountains, ‘Cover us,’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us.⁹From the days of Gibeah, Israel has sinned; in this, they remained firm. The battle in Gibeah against the sons of iniquity will not take hold of them¹⁰According to my desire, I will correct them. And the peoples will be gathered together over them, while they are chastised for their two iniquities¹¹Ephraim is a heifer that has been taught to love treading out the grain, but I passed over the beauty of her neck. I will rise over Ephraim. Judah will plough; Jacob will break up the soil for himself¹²Sow for yourselves in justice, and harvest in the mouth of mercy; renew your fallow land. But the time when you will seek the Lord is the time when he will arrive who will teach you justice¹³You have ploughed impiety; you have harvested iniquity; you have eaten the fruit of lies. For you had confidence in your ways, in the multitude of your good fortunes¹⁴A tumult will arise among your people. And all your fortifications will be laid waste, just as Salman was destroyed by the house of him that judged Baal on the day of the battle, the mother having been crushed against her sons¹⁵So has Bethel done to you, before the face of your malicious wickedness

Chapter 11

¹Just as the morning passes, so has the king of Israel passed by. For Israel was a child and I loved him; and out of Egypt I called my son²They called them, and so they departed before their face. They offered victims to the Baals, and they sacrificed to graven images³And I was like a foster father to Ephraim. I carried them in my arms. And they did not know that I healed them⁴I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love. And I will be to them like one who raises the yoke over their jaws. And I will reach down to him so that he may eat⁵He will not return to the land of Egypt, but Assur himself will be the king over him, because they were not willing to be converted⁶The sword has begun in his cities, and it will consume his elect and devour their heads⁷And my people will long for my return. But a yoke will be imposed on them together, which will not be taken away⁸How will I provide for you, Ephraim; how will I protect you, Israel? How will I provide for you as for Adam; will I set you like Zeboiim? My heart has changed within me; together with my regret, it has been stirred up⁹I will not act on the fury of my wrath. I will not turn back to utterly destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Divine in your midst, and I will not advance upon the city¹⁰They will walk after the Lord; he will roar like a lion. For he himself will roar, and the sons of the sea will dread¹¹And they will fly like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove from the land of the Assyrians. And I will arrange them in their own houses, says the Lord¹²Ephraim has besieged me with denials, and the house of Israel with deceit. But Judah went down as a witness before God and the holy ones of faith

Chapter 12

¹Ephraim feeds on wind and follows burning heat; all day long he multiplies lies and desolation. And he has entered into a pact with the Assyrians, and he has carried oil into Egypt²Therefore, the judgment of the Lord is with Judah and a visitation is upon Jacob. He will repay him according to his ways and according to his inventions³In the womb, he supplanted his brother; for in his good fortune, he had been guided by an angel⁴And he prevailed over an angel, for he had been strengthened. He wept and petitioned him. He found him in Bethel, and there he has spoken to us⁵And the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial⁶And so, you should convert to your God. Keep mercy and judgment, and have hope in your God always⁷Canaan, in his hand is a deceitful balance, he has chosen false accusations⁸And Ephraim has said, "Nevertheless, I have become rich; I have found an idol for myself. All of my labors will not reveal to me the iniquity that I have committed.⁹And I, the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, nevertheless will cause you to dwell in tabernacles, just as during the days of the feast¹⁰And I have spoken through the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and I have used parables through the hands of the prophets¹¹If Gilead is an idol, then they have been sacrificing cattle in Gilgal to no purpose. For even their altars are like clutter on the soil of the field¹²Jacob fled into the region of Syria, and Israel served like a wife, and was served by a wife¹³Yet by a prophet the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, and he was served by a prophet¹⁴Ephraim has provoked me to wrath with his bitterness, and his blood will overcome him, and his Lord will requite him for his shamefulness