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The Bible · 869 of 1189

Hosea 7

1.When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. 2. And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. 3. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. 4. They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. 5. In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners. 6. For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. 7. They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.

8.Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. 9. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not. 10. And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.

11.Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. 12. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. 13. Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me. 14. And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me. 15. Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me. 16. They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Asked of Guide

Why does Hosea call Ephraim a 'cake not turned' and an 'oven heated'?

Hosea uses the images of an oven and a cake to show Israel’s half‑done, dangerous state: the oven that burns when the baker sleeps and the cake not turned both signal carelessness that leads to ruin. Verse 6 pictures sudden, consuming disaster—“in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire”—and verse 8’s “cake not turned” shows something unfinished and spoiled by neglect.

These metaphors accuse leadership and people for nurturing corruption until it becomes self‑destructive: their pride and lies (verses 3, 10) and reliance on foreign powers (verse 11) make them vulnerable. Hosea’s language echoes prophetic imagery in Isaiah, where neglect and false trust bring judgment through vivid household and craft metaphors.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.