Hosea 13:1-8

Baal Worshipers and Calf Worshipers to be Destroyed

13:1 When Ephraim spoke, there was terror;

he was exalted in Israel,

but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.

13:2 Even now they persist in sin!

They make metal images for themselves,

idols that they skillfully fashion from their own silver;

all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen!

There is a saying about them:

“Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!”

13:3 Therefore they will disappear like the morning mist,

like early morning dew that evaporates,

like chaff that is blown away from a threshing floor,

like smoke that disappears through an open window.

Well-Fed Israel Will Be Fed to Wild Animals

13:4 But I am the Lord your God,

who brought you out of Egypt.

Therefore, you must not acknowledge any God but me;

except me there is no Savior.

13:5 I cared for you in the wilderness,

in the dry desert where no water was.

13:6 When they were fed, they became satisfied;

when they were satisfied, they became proud;

as a result, they forgot me!

13:7 So I will pounce on them like a lion;

like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

13:8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs –

I will rip open their chests.

I will devour them there like a lion –

like a wild animal would tear them apart.