Hosea , Sarah Barry
THERE IS NO SAVIOR BUT GOD
Passage: Hosea 13:1~16  
Key verse: 4
The Lord’s Anger Against Israel13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;(A)
he was exalted(B) in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship(C) and died.
2 Now they sin more and more;
they make(D) idols for themselves from their silver,(E)
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.(F)
It is said of these people,
“They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss[a](G) calf-idols!(H)”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,(I)
like chaff(J) swirling from a threshing floor,(K)
like smoke(L) escaping through a window.
4 “But I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.(M)
You shall acknowledge(N) no God but me,(O)
no Savior(P) except me.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness,(Q)
in the land of burning heat.
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;(R)
then they forgot(S) me.(T)
7 So I will be like a lion(U) to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs,(V)
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion(W) I will devour them—
a wild animal will tear them apart.(X)
9 “You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me,(Y) against your helper.(Z)
10 Where is your king,(AA) that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?(AB)
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,(AC)
and in my wrath I took him away.(AD)
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.(AE)
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth(AF) come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time(AG) arrives,
he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.(AH)
14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;(AI)
I will redeem them from death.(AJ)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?(AK)
“I will have no compassion,
15 even though he thrives(AL) among his brothers.
An east wind(AM) from the Lord will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.(AN)
His storehouse will be plundered(AO)
of all its treasures.
16 The people of Samaria(AP) must bear their guilt,(AQ)
because they have rebelled(AR) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;(AS)
their little ones will be dashed(AT) to the ground,
their pregnant women(AU) ripped open.”[b]
13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;(A)
he was exalted(B) in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship(C) and died.
2 Now they sin more and more;
they make(D) idols for themselves from their silver,(E)
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.(F)
It is said of these people,
“They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss[a](G) calf-idols!(H)”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,(I)
like chaff(J) swirling from a threshing floor,(K)
like smoke(L) escaping through a window.
4 “But I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.(M)
You shall acknowledge(N) no God but me,(O)
no Savior(P) except me.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness,(Q)
in the land of burning heat.
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;(R)
then they forgot(S) me.(T)
7 So I will be like a lion(U) to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs,(V)
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion(W) I will devour them—
a wild animal will tear them apart.(X)
9 “You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me,(Y) against your helper.(Z)
10 Where is your king,(AA) that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?(AB)
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,(AC)
and in my wrath I took him away.(AD)
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.(AE)
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth(AF) come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time(AG) arrives,
he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.(AH)
14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;(AI)
I will redeem them from death.(AJ)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?(AK)
“I will have no compassion,
15 even though he thrives(AL) among his brothers.
An east wind(AM) from the Lord will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.(AN)
His storehouse will be plundered(AO)
of all its treasures.
16 The people of Samaria(AP) must bear their guilt,(AQ)
because they have rebelled(AR) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;(AS)
their little ones will be dashed(AT) to the ground,
their pregnant women(AU) ripped open.”[b]
Footnotes
- Hosea 13:2 Or “Men who sacrifice / kiss
- Hosea 13:16 In Hebrew texts this verse (13:16) is numbered 14:1.
Cross references
- Hosea 13:1 : Jdg 12:1
- Hosea 13:1 : S Jdg 8:1
- Hosea 13:1 : S Hos 11:2
- Hosea 13:2 : Jer 44:8
- Hosea 13:2 : S Isa 46:6; S Jer 10:4
- Hosea 13:2 : Hos 14:3
- Hosea 13:2 : 1Ki 19:18
- Hosea 13:2 : S Isa 44:17-20; S Hos 8:4
- Hosea 13:3 : S Hos 6:4
- Hosea 13:3 : S Job 13:25; Ps 1:4; S Isa 17:13
- Hosea 13:3 : Da 2:35
- Hosea 13:3 : Ps 68:2
- Hosea 13:4 : S Jer 2:6; S Hos 12:9
- Hosea 13:4 : S Hos 2:20
- Hosea 13:4 : S Ex 20:3
- Hosea 13:4 : S Dt 28:29; Ps 18:46; Isa 43:11; 45:21-22
- Hosea 13:5 : S Dt 1:19
- Hosea 13:6 : S Eze 28:5
- Hosea 13:6 : S Dt 32:18; S Isa 17:10
- Hosea 13:6 : Dt 32:12-15; S Pr 30:7-9; S Jer 5:7; S Hos 2:13; S 4:7
- Hosea 13:7 : S Job 10:16; S Jer 4:7
- Hosea 13:8 : 2Sa 17:8
- Hosea 13:8 : S 1Sa 17:34; Ps 17:12
- Hosea 13:8 : Ps 50:22; S La 3:10; S Hos 2:12
- Hosea 13:9 : Jer 2:17-19
- Hosea 13:9 : S Dt 33:29
- Hosea 13:10 : 2Ki 17:4; Hos 7:7
- Hosea 13:10 : 1Sa 8:6; Hos 8:4
- Hosea 13:11 : S Nu 11:20
- Hosea 13:11 : S Jos 24:20; S 1Sa 13:14; S 1Ki 14:10; Hos 3:4; S 10:7
- Hosea 13:12 : S Dt 32:34
- Hosea 13:13 : Isa 13:8; Mic 4:9-10
- Hosea 13:13 : 2Ki 19:3
- Hosea 13:13 : Isa 66:9
- Hosea 13:14 : S Ps 16:10; 49:15; S Eze 37:12-13
- Hosea 13:14 : S Isa 25:8
- Hosea 13:14 : 1Co 15:55*
- Hosea 13:15 : S Hos 10:1
- Hosea 13:15 : S Job 1:19; S Eze 19:12; S Hos 4:19
- Hosea 13:15 : S Jer 51:36
- Hosea 13:15 : Jer 20:5
- Hosea 13:16 : 2Ki 17:5
- Hosea 13:16 : Hos 10:2
- Hosea 13:16 : S Hos 7:14
- Hosea 13:16 : Hos 11:6
- Hosea 13:16 : S 2Ki 8:12; S Hos 10:14
- Hosea 13:16 : 2Ki 15:16; Isa 13:16; Am 1:13
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
1. Ephraim forgot God (1-8)
When Israel worshiped God, she was an influential nation. When Israel worshiped Baal, she died, first spiritually, then nationally. God had brought them out of Egypt and cared for them in the desert. He is their only Savior; but the people forgot as soon as they were fed and were satisfied, and now punishment was coming on them. We must remember the first commandment, that there is no God but the Lord, no Savior except him.
2. God punishes and God redeems (9-16)
Northern Israel was finally destroyed because they set themselves against their only helper, God. Kings and princes could not save them. Trouble came upon their nation like birth pains, but they had forgotten how to respond by turning to God. Their nation was doomed to fall. But God can save a people even when they are already destroyed, because he has resurrection power. By faith, we can even mock the power of the grave, as Apostle Paul did (1Co 15:55).
Prayer: Father, there is no God or Savior besides you. Help me believe your power to save no matter what.
One Word: God redeems his people from death