Hosea 13 King James Version (KJV)
13 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
10 I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
Commentary
The destruction of Israel (13:1-16)
Ephraim prided itself that it was the leading tribe in Israel and that the other tribes did as Ephraim told them. Ephraim must therefore bear the responsibility for the development of Baal worship in Israel. As the morning dew quickly vanishes with the rising of the sun, so Ephraim, and all the other tribes with it, will soon disappear (13:1-3).
God saved the Israelites from slavery, looked after them in the wilderness and gave them a land, but in their prosperity they forgot him (4-6). God will now destroy them. There will be no escape (7-8).
Israel’s original desire for a king was a rejection of God. The people will now find that the king will not give them the security they hoped for. The monarchy, as well as the nation, is doomed (9-11; cf. 1 Sam 10:19; 12:13-15).
Israel has been piling up sin for years, and the punishment for that sin is now to fall upon it in the form of national destruction. There is hope of salvation and new life if the nation responds to God, but it stubbornly refuses to. It is like an unborn child which, when the time for birth has come, refuses to come out of its mother’s womb, and so dies (12-13). There can be no more mercy. Death is certain (14). As a hot wind from the desert can destroy the countryside, so the Assyrian army will destroy Israel. It will show no mercy (15-16).