Hosea 7

Evil exposed

1when I heal Israel,
Ephraim’s guilt and Samaria’s evil are exposed.
They practice deceit;
a thief breaks in,
and a raiding band plunders outside. 2They do not take it to heart
that I remember all their evil.
Now their deeds surround them;
they are right before my face. 3Their evil makes a king glad;
their lies delight rulers. 4They are all adulterers,
like an oven heated by a baker,
who stops stirring the fire
from the kneading of the dough until it rises. 5On the day of our king,
the rulers became sick with the heat of wine.
He stretched out his hand with scoffers. 6They bring their hearts near like an oven as they lie in wait.
Their baker sleeps all night;
in the morning it burns like a blazing fire. 7All of them burn hot as an oven
and consume their judges.
All their kings have fallen;
none of them calls to me.

Ephraim among the nations

8Ephraim mixes himself among the peoples.
Ephraim is a flatbread never turned over. 9Foreigners consume his strength,
but he does not know it.
Gray hairs are scattered over him,
but he does not know it. 10Israel’s pride testifies against him,
yet they have not returned to the LORD their God
or sought him through all this. 11Ephraim is like a gullible dove without sense.
They call to Egypt;
they go to Assyria. 12As they go, I will spread my net over them;
I will bring them down like birds of the sky.
I will discipline them
as their congregation has been told. 13Woe to them, for they have wandered away from me!
Devastation to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies about me. 14They do not cry to me from their hearts;
they wail on their beds.
They gather for grain and new wine
and turn against me. 15I trained them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil against me. 16They turn, but not upward;
they have become an unreliable bow.
Their rulers will fall by the sword
because of their raging tongues.
This will make them a laughingstock in Egypt.