Hosea 13

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¹When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, But through Baal he incurred guilt and died. ✦ ²And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves cast metal images, Idols skillfully made from their silver, All of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the people who sacrifice kiss the calves!” ✦ ³Therefore they will be like the morning cloud And like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor, And like smoke from a chimney. ✦ ⁴¶Yet I have been the Lord your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me. ✦ ⁵I cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought. ✦ ⁶As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And as they became satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore they forgot Me. ✦ ⁷So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside. ✦ ⁸I will confront them like a bear deprived of her cubs, And I will tear open their chests; I will also devour them there like a lioness, As a wild animal would tear them to pieces. ✦ ⁹¶It is to your own destruction, Israel, That you are against Me, against your help. ✦ ¹⁰Where then is your king, That he might save you in all your cities; And your judges, to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”? ✦ ¹¹I gave you a king in My anger, And took him away in My wrath. ✦ ¹²¶The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up; His sin is stored up. ✦ ¹³The pains of childbirth come on him; He is not a wise son, For it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb. ✦ ¹⁴Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? Death, where are your thorns? Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight. ✦ ¹⁵¶Though he flourishes among the reeds, An east wind will come, The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will become dry And his spring will dry up; It will plunder his treasury of every precious article. ✦ ¹⁶Samaria will pay the penalty for her guilt, Because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword, Their children will be slaughtered, And their pregnant women will be ripped open. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Hos 10 ·8 2 Kgs 17 ·6 Jer 2 ·6 Deut 32 ·5 Isa 17 ·4 Hos 8 ·4 1 Kgs 12 ·4 1 Sam 8 ·3

Christ at the center

God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.

How Hosea 13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 13YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Hosea 13David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Hosea 13Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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