Hosea 13

• 1. In the past when the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the people shook with fear because the other Israelite tribes looked up to them. But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal and thus sealed their destruction.
• 2. Now they keep on sinning by making silver idols to worship--images shaped skillfully with human hands. "Sacrifice to these," they cry, "and kiss the calf idols!"
• 3. Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist, like dew in the morning sun, like chaff blown by the wind, like smoke from a chimney.
• 4. "I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from your slavery in Egypt. You have no God but me, for there is no other savior.
• 5. I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land.
• 6. But when you had eaten and were satisfied, then you became proud and forgot me.
• 7. So now I will attack you like a lion, or like a leopard that lurks along the road.
• 8. I will rip you to pieces like a bear whose cubs have been taken away. I will tear you apart and devour you like a hungry lion.
• 9. "You are about to be destroyed, O Israel, though I am your helper.
• 10. Where now is your king? Why don't you call on him for help? Where are all the leaders of the land? You asked for them, now let them save you!
• 11. In my anger I gave you kings, and in my fury I took them away.
• 12. "The sins of Ephraim have been collected and stored away for punishment.
• 13. The people have been offered new birth, but they are like a child who resists being born. How stubborn they are! How foolish!
• 14. Should I ransom them from the grave? Should I redeem them from death? O death, bring forth your terrors! O grave, bring forth your plagues! For I will not relent!
• 15. Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers, but the east wind--a blast from the LORD--will arise in the desert. It will blow hard against the people of Ephraim, drying up their land. All their flowing springs and wells will disappear. Every precious thing they have will be plundered and carried away.
• 16. The people of Samaria must bear the consequences of their guilt because they rebelled against their God. They will be killed by an invading army, their little ones dashed to death against the ground, their pregnant women ripped open by swords."

Hosea 14

• 1. Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sins have brought you down.
• 2. Bring your petitions, and return to the LORD. Say to him, "Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you the sacrifice of praise.
• 3. Assyria cannot save us, nor can our strength in battle. Never again will we call the idols we have made `our gods.' No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy."
• 4. The LORD says, "Then I will heal you of your idolatry and faithlessness, and my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever!
• 5. I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. It will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon.
• 6. Its branches will spread out like those of beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedar forests of Lebanon.
• 7. My people will return again to the safety of their land. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.
• 8. "O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who looks after you and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green, giving my fruit to you all through the year."
• 9. Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those who are discerning listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But sinners stumble and fall along the way.

New Living Translation: 303 of 324 days.