VerseAI

NIV

Hosea 7

  1. 1<pb/><t>whenever I would heal Israel,</t> <t>the sins of Ephraim are exposed</t> <t>and the crimes of Samaria revealed.</t> <t>They practice deceit,</t> <t>thieves break into houses,</t> <t>bandits rob in the streets;</t>
  2. 2<t>but they do not realize</t> <t>that I remember all their evil deeds.</t> <t>Their sins engulf them;</t> <t>they are always before me. <pb/></t>
  3. 3<t>“They delight the king with their wickedness,</t> <t>the princes with their lies.</t>
  4. 4<t>They are all adulterers,</t> <t>burning like an oven</t> <t>whose fire the baker need not stir</t> <t>from the kneading of the dough till it rises.</t>
  5. 5<t>On the day of the festival of our king</t> <t>the princes become inflamed with wine,</t> <t>and he joins hands with the mockers.</t>
  6. 6<t>Their hearts are like an oven;</t> <t>they approach him with intrigue.</t> <t>Their passion smolders all night;</t> <t>in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.</t>
  7. 7<t>All of them are hot as an oven;</t> <t>they devour their rulers.</t> <t>All their kings fall,</t> <t>and none of them calls on me. <pb/></t>
  8. 8<t>“Ephraim mixes with the nations;</t> <t>Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.</t>
  9. 9<t>Foreigners sap his strength,</t> <t>but he does not realize it.</t> <t>His hair is sprinkled with gray,</t> <t>but he does not notice.</t>
  10. 10<t>Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,</t> <t>but despite all this</t> <t>he does not return to the LORD his God</t> <t>or search for him. <pb/></t>
  11. 11<t>“Ephraim is like a dove,</t> <t>easily deceived and senseless—</t> <t>now calling to Egypt,</t> <t>now turning to Assyria.</t>
  12. 12<t>When they go, I will throw my net over them;</t> <t>I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.</t> <t>When I hear them flocking together,</t> <t>I will catch them.</t>
  13. 13<t>Woe to them,</t> <t>because they have strayed from me!</t> <t>Destruction to them,</t> <t>because they have rebelled against me!</t> <t>I long to redeem them</t> <t>but they speak about me falsely.</t>
  14. 14<t>They do not cry out to me from their hearts</t> <t>but wail on their beds.</t> <t>They slash themselves,<f>[23]</f> appealing to their gods</t> <t>for grain and new wine,</t> <t>but they turn away from me.</t>
  15. 15<t>I trained them and strengthened their arms,</t> <t>but they plot evil against me.</t>
  16. 16<t>They do not turn to the Most High;</t> <t>they are like a faulty bow.</t> <t>Their leaders will fall by the sword</t> <t>because of their insolent words.</t> <t>For this they will be ridiculed</t> <t>in the land of Egypt.</t>