Hosea 11

1I fell in love with IsraelWhen he was still a child;And I have called [him] My sonEver since Egypt.

2Thus were they called,But they went their own way;They sacrifice to Baalim And offer to carved images.

3I have pampered Ephraim,Taking them in My arms; But they have ignoredMy healing care.

4I drew them with human ties, With cords of love;But I seemed to them as oneWho imposed a yoke on their jaws,Though I was offering them food.

5No!They return to the land of Egypt,And Assyria is their king.Because they refuse to repent,

6A sword shall descend upon their towns And consume their limbsAnd devour [them] because of their designs.

7For My people persistsIn its defection from Me;When it is summoned upward,It does not rise at all.

8How can I give you up, O Ephraim?How surrender you, O Israel?How can I make you like Admah,Render you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart,All My tenderness is stirred.

9I will not act on My wrath,Will not turn to destroy Ephraim.For I am God—not human—The Holy One in your midst:I will not come in fury.

10GOD will roar like a lion—Whom they shall march behind;With that roar, God’s children shall comeFluttering out of the west.

11They shall flutter from Egypt like sparrows,From the land of Assyria like doves;And I will settle them in their homes—declares GOD.