Hosea 7:1-16 NIV
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;
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.
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.
This chapter either begins a new discourse, prophecy or it is a
continuation of the former.
It is directed to Israel alone; and consists of complaints
against them because of their manifold sins, and of denunciations of punishment
for them. They are charged with ingratitude to GOD, sinning in a daring manner
against mercy, and with falsehood, thefts, and robberies, Hosea
7:1; with lack of consideration of the Omniscience of GOD, and His Notice of their sins, which surrounded them, Hosea
7:2; with flattery to their king and princes, Hosea
7:3; with adultery, which lust aroused in them like a heated
oven, Hosea 7:4;
with drunkenness, aggravated by drawing their king into it, Hosea
7:5; with raging lusts, which devoured their judges, made their
kings to fall, and brought on such a general corruption, that there were none
that called upon The Lord, Hosea
7:6.
With mixing themselves with the nations of the earth, and so
learning their ways, and bringing their superstition and idolatry into the Worship
of GOD, so that they were nothing in religion, like a half-baked cake, Hosea
7:8; with stupidity and insensibility of their declining
state, Hosea 7:9;
with pride, impenitence, and stubbornness, Hosea
7:10; with folly, in seeking to Egypt and Assyria
for help, and not to The LORD; for which they would be taken as birds in a net,
and sorely chastised, Hosea 7:11;
with ingratitude, hypocrisy, and deceitfulness; for all which they are
threatened with destruction, Hosea
7:13.