Hosea 13 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling — he carried weight among Israel. But then he became guilty through Baal, and he died.

And now they keep on failing — worse and worse. They cast metal images from their silver, idols shaped by their own skill, all of it the work of craftsmen. They say of these things, "Let those who offer sacrifice kiss the calves!"

So they will be like the morning mist, like dew that vanishes early, like chaff swept from the threshing floor, like smoke that drifts from a window.

But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt — you have never known any God but me, and there is no rescuer besides me.

I knew you in the wilderness, in that scorched and desperate land.

When they found pasture, they were satisfied; once satisfied, their hearts grew proud — and so they forgot me.

So now I will be like a lion to them, like a leopard lurking by the road.

I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open the cage of their chest. I will devour them there like a lioness — like a wild beast ripping them apart.

It has destroyed you, Israel — that you are against me, against your helper.

Where now is your king, to rescue you in all your cities? And your rulers, of whom you said, "Give me a king and officials"?

I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my fury.

Ephraim's guilt is bundled up, his failures are stored away.

The pains of a woman in labor come over him — but he is a child without wisdom: when the time comes, he does not present himself at the opening of the womb.

Should I ransom them from the grip of the grave? Should I redeem them from death? Where are your plagues, Death? Where is your devastation, Grave? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Even though he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come — the wind of Yahweh rising from the wilderness. His spring will dry up, his fountain will run dry. It will plunder his treasury of every precious thing.

Samaria will bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their infants will be dashed to pieces, their pregnant women ripped open.