Hosea 7

¹ Whenever I want to heal Israel, I am confronted by the guilt of Ephraim and the wickedness of Samaria; deceit is their principle of behaviour, thieves break into houses and bandits raid outside.

² They never pause to consider that I know about all their wickedness; yet their actions are all round them, they stare me in the face.

³ Such is their cunning, they beguile the king, and the leaders too, such is their treachery.

⁴ But they breathe fury, all of them, as fiery as an oven which the baker does not need to stoke from the time he has kneaded the dough until it rises.

⁵ They addle the king and leaders with wine fumes as he mixes with these scoundrels.

⁶ Their hearts reach oven-heat in the excitement of the plot; their fury smoulders all night and in the morning blazes like a fierce flame;

⁷ all burn at oven-heat and they consume the men who rule them. Thus have all their kings fallen, not one of them has ever called on me[*a].

⁸ Ephraim mixes with the nations, Ephraim is a half-baked cake.

⁹ Foreigners eat his strength away, he is unconscious of it; grey hairs are scattered on his head: he is unconscious of it.

¹⁰ (The arrogance of Israel is his own accuser; they will not come back to Yahweh their God; in spite of all this they will not seek him.)

¹¹ Ephraim is like a silly, witless dove, calling on Egypt, turning to Assyria.

¹² Wherever they turn, I will spread my net over them, I mean to bring them down like the birds of heaven, I will punish them for their perversity.

¹³ Trouble is coming to them, for they have strayed from me! Ruin on them, for they have rebelled against me! I wanted to redeem them, but they tell lies about me.

¹⁴ Theirs is no heartfelt cry to me when they lament on their beds. They gash themselves for the sake of corn and wine, yet they rebel against me.

¹⁵ I it was who gave strength to their arms, yet all they do is make wicked plots against me.

¹⁶ They turn to Baal, they are like a treacherous bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their arrogant talk, and how they will be laughed at in the land of Egypt!