131 When Ephraim spoke , there was trembling . He exalted himself in Israel , But through Baal he did wrong and died . 2 And now they sin more and more , And make for themselves molten images , Idols skillfully made from their silver , All of them the work of craftsmen . They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves !" 3 Therefore 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.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness , In the land of drought . 6 As they had their pasture , they became satisfied , And being satisfied , their heart became proud ; Therefore e they forgot Me. 7 So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside . 8 I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs , And I will tear open their chests e ; There I will also devour them like a lioness , As a wild beast would tear them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hosea 13:1-8
Commentary on Hosea 13:1-8
(Read Hosea 13:1-8)
While Ephraim kept up a holy fear of God, and worshipped Him in that fear, so long he was very considerable. When Ephraim forsook God, and followed idolatry, he sunk. Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves, in token of their adoration of them, affection for them, and obedience to them; but the Lord will not give his glory to another, and therefore all that worship images shall be confounded. No solid, lasting comfort, is to be expected any where but in God. God not only took care of the Israelites in the wilderness, he put them in possession of Canaan, a good land; but worldly prosperity, when it feeds men's pride, makes them forgetful of God. Therefore the Lord would meet them in just vengeance, as the most terrible beast that inhabited their forests. Abused goodness calls for greater severity.