Read New International Version, 2011 Hosea 7 Bible Online

Hosea 7 - New International Version, 2011 bible

Hosea 7

¹whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets;

²but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.

³“They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies.

⁴They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

⁵On the day of the festival of our king the princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers.

⁶Their hearts are like an oven; they approach him with intrigue. Their passion smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

⁷All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.

⁸“Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.

⁹Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice.

¹⁰Israel’s arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the LORD his God or search for him.

¹¹“Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless — now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria.

¹²When they go, I will throw my net over them; I will pull them down like the birds in the sky. When I hear them flocking together, I will catch them.

¹³Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak about me falsely.

¹⁴They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail on their beds. They slash themselves, [23] appealing to their gods for grain and new wine, but they turn away from me.

¹⁵I trained them and strengthened their arms, but they plot evil against me.

¹⁶They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.