Hosea 13 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Relentless Judgment on Israel

Ephraim’s Destruction Foretold

Hos 13:1When Ephraim spoke, trembling,
He exalted himself in Israel;
But when he offended through Baal worship, he died.

Hos 13:2

Hos 13:2Now they sin more and more,
And have made for themselves molded images,
Idols of their silver, according to their skill;
All of it is the work of craftsmen.
They say of them,
“Let the men who sacrifice[fn] kiss the calves!”

Hos 13:3

Hos 13:3Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud
And like the early dew that passes away,
Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor
And like smoke from a chimney.

Hos 13:4

Hos 13:4“Yet I am the LORD your God
Ever since the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no God but Me;
For there is no savior besides Me.

Hos 13:5

Hos 13:5I knew you in the wilderness,
In the land of great drought.

Hos 13:6

Hos 13:6When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore they forgot Me.

Hos 13:7

Hos 13:7“So I will be to them like a lion;
Like a leopard by the road I will lurk;

Hos 13:8

Hos 13:8I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs;
I will tear open their rib cage,
And there I will devour them like a lion.
The wild beast shall tear them.

Hos 13:9

Hos 13:9“O Israel, you are destroyed,[fn]
But your help[fn] is from Me.

Hos 13:10

Hos 13:10I will be your King;[fn]
Where is any other,
That he may save you in all your cities?
And your judges to whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?

Hos 13:11

Hos 13:11I gave you a king in My anger,
And took him away in My wrath.

Hos 13:12

Hos 13:12“The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is stored up.

Hos 13:13

Hos 13:13The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him.
He is an unwise son,
For he should not stay long where children are born.

Hos 13:14

Hos 13:14“I will ransom them from the power of the grave;[fn]
I will redeem them from death.
O Death, I will be your plagues![fn]
O Grave,[fn] I will be your destruction![fn]
Pity is hidden from My eyes.”

Hos 13:15

Hos 13:15Though he is fruitful among his brethren,
An east wind shall come;
The wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness.
Then his spring shall become dry,
And his fountain shall be dried up.
He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize.

Hos 13:16

Hos 13:16Samaria is held guilty,[fn]
For she has rebelled against her God.
They shall fall by the sword,
Their infants shall be dashed in pieces,
And their women with child ripped open.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(13:2)

Or those who offer human sacrifice

(13:9)

Literally it or he destroyed you

(13:9)

Literally in your help

(13:10)

Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read Where is your king?

(13:14)

Or Sheol

(13:14)

Septuagint reads where is your punishment?

(13:14)

Or Sheol

(13:14)

Septuagint reads where is your sting?

(13:16)

Septuagint reads shall be disfigured

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.