Hosea 11:1-12
11 “When Israel was a boy, I loved him,+And out of Egypt I called my son.+
2 The more they* called them,The more they went away from them.+
They kept sacrificing to the Baʹal images+And offering sacrifices to the graven images.+
3 But it was I who taught Eʹphra·im to walk,+ taking them in my arms;+And they did not acknowledge that I had healed them.
4 With the ropes of men* I kept drawing them, with the cords of love;+And I was to them like one lifting a yoke from their jaws,And I gently brought food to each one.
5 They will not return to the land of Egypt, but As·syrʹi·a will be their king,+Because they refused to return to me.+
6 And a sword will whirl against his cities+And destroy his bars and devour them because of their schemes.+
7 My people are bent on unfaithfulness to me.+
Though they called them upward,* no one rises up.
8 How can I give you up, O Eʹphra·im?+
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I treat you like Adʹmah?
How can I make you like Ze·boiʹim?+
I have had a change of heart;At the same time my compassions are stirred.*+
9 I will not vent my burning anger.
I will not destroy Eʹphra·im again,+For I am God and not man,The Holy One in your midst;And I will not come against you in fury.
10 They will walk after Jehovah, and he will roar like a lion;+When he roars, his sons will come trembling from the west.+
11 They will tremble like a bird when they come out of Egypt,Like a dove out of the land of As·syrʹi·a;+And I will settle them in their houses,” declares Jehovah.+
12 “Eʹphra·im has surrounded me with lies,And the house of Israel with deceit.+
But Judah still roams* with God,And he is faithful to the Most Holy One.”+
Footnotes
^ That is, prophets and others sent to instruct Israel.
^ Or “the ropes of kindness,” like those of a parent.
^ That is, to an elevated form of worship.
^ Lit., “have grown hot.”
^ Or “walks.”