HOSEA 13 [†] When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;

 b he was exalted in Israel,

but he incurred guilt  c through Baal and died.

2[†] And now they sin more and more,

and  d make for themselves metal images,

idols skillfully made of their silver,

 e all of them the work of craftsmen.

It is said of them,

“Those who offer human sacrifice  f kiss calves!”

3[†] Therefore they shall be  g like the morning mist

or  g like the dew that goes early away,

 h like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor

or  i like smoke from a window.

4[†] But  j I am the LORD your God

from the land of Egypt;

 k you know no God but me,

and  l besides me there is no savior.

5  m It was I who knew you in the wilderness,

in the land of drought;

6[†]  n but when they had grazed, [1] they became full,

 o they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;

 o therefore they forgot me.

7[†] So  p I am to them like a lion;

 q like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.

8 I will fall upon them  r like a bear robbed of her cubs;

I will tear open their breast,

and there I will devour them like a lion,

 s as a wild beast would rip them open.

9[†] He destroys [2] you, O Israel,

for you are against me, against  t your helper.

10  u Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?

Where are all your rulers—

those of whom  v you said,

“Give me a king and princes”?

11  w I gave you a king in my anger,

and  x I took him away in my wrath.

12[†] The iniquity of Ephraim is  y bound up;

his sin is  y kept in store.

13  z The pangs of childbirth come for him,

but he is an unwise son,

for at the right time he does not present himself

 a at the opening of the womb.

14[^][†]  b Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?

 b Shall I redeem them from Death?

 c O  d Death, where are your plagues?

 c O  d Sheol, where is your sting?

 e Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

15 Though  f he may flourish among his brothers,

 g the east wind, the wind of the LORD, shall come,

rising from the wilderness,

 h and his fountain shall dry up;

his spring shall be parched;

it shall strip  i his treasury

of every precious thing.

16  [3] Samaria  j shall bear her guilt,

because  k she has rebelled against her God;

they shall fall by the sword;

 l their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,

and their  m pregnant women ripped open.