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Hosea - Chapter 13

Listen to this chapter in Hebrew:

1When Efraim spoke piety, He was exalted in Yisrael; But he incurred guilt through Baal, And so he died.

אכְּדַבֵּר אֶפְרַיִם רְתֵת נָשָׂא הוּא בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֶּאְשַׁם בַּבַּעַל וַיָּמֹת׃

2And now they go on sinning; They have made them molten images, Idols, by their skill, from their silver, Wholly the work of craftsmen. Yet for these they appoint men to sacrifice; They are wont to kiss calves!

בוְעַתָּה יוֹסִפוּ לַחֲטֹא וַיַּעְשׂוּ לָהֶם מַסֵּכָה מִכַּסְפָּם כִּתְבוּנָם עֲצַבִּים מַעֲשֵׂה חָרָשִׁים כֻּלֹּה לָהֶם הֵם אֹמְרִים זֹבְחֵי אָדָם עֲגָלִים יִשָּׁקוּן׃

3Assuredly, They shall be like morning clouds, Like dew so early gone; Like chaff whirled away from the threshing floor. And like smoke from a lattice.

גלָכֵן יִהְיוּ כַּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר וְכַטַּל מַשְׁכִּים הֹלֵךְ כְּמֹץ יְסֹעֵר מִגֹּרֶן וּכְעָשָׁן מֵאֲרֻבָּה׃

4Only I Hashem have been your God Ever since the land of Egypt; You have never known a [true] Hashem but Me, You have never had a helper other than Me.

דוְאָנֹכִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם וֵאלֹהִים זוּלָתִי לֹא תֵדָע וּמוֹשִׁיעַ אַיִן בִּלְתִּי׃

5I looked after you in the desert, In a thirsty land.

האֲנִי יְדַעְתִּיךָ בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּאֶרֶץ תַּלְאֻבוֹת׃

6When they grazed, they were sated; When they were sated, they grew haughty; And so they forgot Me.

וכְּמַרְעִיתָם וַיִּשְׂבָּעוּ שָׂבְעוּ וַיָּרָם לִבָּם עַל־כֵּן שְׁכֵחוּנִי׃

7So I am become like a lion to them, Like a leopard I lurk on the way;

זוָאֱהִי לָהֶם כְּמוֹ־שָׁחַל כְּנָמֵר עַל־דֶּרֶךְ אָשׁוּר׃

8Like a bear robbed of her young I attack them And rip open the casing of their hearts; I will devour them there like a lion, The beasts of the field shall mangle them.

ef-g'-SHAYM k'-DOV sha-KUL v'-ek-RA s'-GOR li-BAM v'-o-kh'-LAYM SHAM k'-la-VEE kha-YAT ha-sa-DEH t'-va-k'-AYM

חאֶפְגְּשֵׁם כְּדֹב שַׁכּוּל וְאֶקְרַע סְגוֹר לִבָּם וְאֹכְלֵם שָׁם כְּלָבִיא חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה תְּבַקְּעֵם׃

 13:8  Like a bear robbed of her young

A Syrian Brown Bear at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.

Hoshea portrays Hashem in His ferocious anger at the Children of Israel, as a female bear whose cubs have been stolen. Radak notes that the mother bear takes care of her young cubs much more than most other animals. Therefore, the sense of anger at the loss of her cubs is correspondingly much stronger. Similarly, God cared for Israel for so long that His sense of loss at their rejection of Him is enormous.

9You are undone, O Yisrael! You had no help but Me.

טשִׁחֶתְךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי־בִי בְעֶזְרֶךָ׃

10Where now is your king? Let him save you! Where are the chieftains in all your towns Whom you demanded: “Give me a king and officers”?

יאֱהִי מַלְכְּךָ אֵפוֹא וְיוֹשִׁיעֲךָ בְּכָל־עָרֶיךָ וְשֹׁפְטֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתָּ תְּנָה־לִּי מֶלֶךְ וְשָׂרִים׃

11I give you kings in my ire, And take them away in My wrath.

יאאֶתֶּן־לְךָ מֶלֶךְ בְּאַפִּי וְאֶקַּח בְּעֶבְרָתִי׃

12Efraim's guilt is bound up, His sin is stored away.

יבצָרוּר עֲוׂן אֶפְרָיִם צְפוּנָה חַטָּאתוֹ׃

13Pangs of childbirth assail him, And the babe is not wise— For this is no time to survive At the birthstool of babes.

יגחֶבְלֵי יוֹלֵדָה יָבֹאוּ לוֹ הוּא־בֵן לֹא חָכָם כִּי־עֵת לֹא־יַעֲמֹד בְּמִשְׁבַּר בָּנִים׃

14From Sheol itself I will save them, Redeem them from very Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Your pestilence where, O Sheol? Revenge shall be far from My thoughts.

ידמִיַּד שְׁאוֹל אֶפְדֵּם מִמָּוֶת אֶגְאָלֵם אֱהִי דְבָרֶיךָ מָוֶת אֱהִי קָטָבְךָ שְׁאוֹל נֹחַם יִסָּתֵר מֵעֵינָי׃

15For though he flourish among reeds, A blast, a wind of Hashem, Shall come blowing up from the wilderness; His fountain shall be parched, His spring dried up. That [wind] shall plunder treasures, Every lovely object.

טוכִּי הוּא בֵּן אַחִים יַפְרִיא יָבוֹא קָדִים רוּחַ יְהֹוָה מִמִּדְבָּר עֹלֶה וְיֵבוֹשׁ מְקוֹרוֹ וְיֶחֱרַב מַעְיָנוֹ הוּא יִשְׁסֶה אוֹצַר כָּל־כְּלִי חֶמְדָּה׃