Hosea 11

A child loved and called

1“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son. 2The more they called to them,
the more they went away from them.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and burned offerings to carved images. 3Yet I was the one who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms.
But they did not know that I healed them. 4I drew them with human cords, with ropes of love.
I was to them like one who lifts a yoke from their jaws;
I bent toward him and fed him. 5He will not return to the land of Egypt;
Assyria will be his king,
because they refused to return. 6The sword will whirl through his cities,
consume his gate bars, and devour
because of their schemes. 7My people are bent on turning away from me.
Though they are called upward,
no one rises at all.

How can I give you up?

8How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah
or treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart turns within me;
all my compassion grows warm. 9I will not unleash my burning anger;
I will not turn to destroy Ephraim again.
For I am God, not a man,
the Holy One among you.
I will not enter a city. 10They will follow the LORD;
he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west. 11They will come trembling like birds from Egypt,
like doves from the land of Assyria.
I will settle them in their homes,” declares the LORD. 12“Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit.
Judah still wanders with God,
with the faithful Holy One.