God’s Continuing Love for Israel

11 “When Israel was a 1child, I loved him,

And out of Egypt aI called My bson.

2 2As they called them,

So they cwent 3from them;

They sacrificed to the Baals,

And burned incense to carved images.

3 “I dtaught Ephraim to walk,

Taking them by 4their arms;

But they did not know that eI healed them.

4 I drew them with 5gentle cords,

With bands of love,

And fI was to them as those who take the yoke from their 6neck.

gI stooped and fed them.

5 “He shall not return to the land of Egypt;

But the Assyrian shall be his king,

Because they refused to repent.

6 And the sword shall slash in his cities,

Devour his districts,

And consume them,

Because of their own counsels.

7 My people are bent on hbacksliding from Me.

Though 7they call 8to the Most High,

None at all exalt Him.

8 “How ican I give you up, Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, Israel?

How can I make you like jAdmah?

How can I set you like Zeboiim?

My heart 9churns within Me;

My sympathy is stirred.

9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim.

kFor I am God, and not man,

The Holy One in your midst;

And I will not 1come with terror.

10 “They shall walk after the Lord.

lHe will roar like a lion.

When He roars,

Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;

11 They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,

mLike a dove from the land of Assyria.

nAnd I will let them dwell in their houses,”

Says the Lord.

God’s Charge Against Ephraim

12 “Ephraim has encircled Me with lies,

And the house of Israel with deceit;

But Judah still walks with God,

Even with the 2Holy One who is faithful.

12 “Ephraim afeeds on the wind,

And pursues the east wind;

He daily increases lies and 1desolation.

bAlso they make a 2covenant with the Assyrians,

And coil is carried to Egypt.

2 “The dLord also brings a 3charge against Judah,

And will punish Jacob according to his ways;

According to his deeds He will recompense him.

3 He took his brother eby the heel in the womb,

And in his strength he fstruggled with God.

4 Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;

He wept, and sought favor from Him.

He found Him in gBethel,

And there He spoke to us—

5 That is, the Lord God of hosts.

The Lord is His hmemorable name.

6 iSo you, by the help of your God, return;

Observe mercy and justice,

And wait on your God continually.

7 “A cunning 4Canaanite!

jDeceitful scales are in his hand;

He loves to oppress.

8 And Ephraim said,

k‘Surely I have become rich,

I have found wealth for myself;

In all my labors

They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’

9 “But I am the Lord your God,

Ever since the land of Egypt;

lI will again make you dwell in tents,

As in the days of the appointed feast.

10 mI have also spoken by the prophets,

And have multiplied visions;

I have given 5symbols 6through the witness of the prophets.”

11 Though nGilead has idols—

Surely they are 7vanity—

Though they sacrifice bulls in oGilgal,

Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.

12 Jacob pfled to the country of Syria;

qIsrael served for a spouse,

And for a wife he tended sheep.

13 rBy a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,

And by a prophet he was preserved.

14 Ephraim sprovoked Him to anger most bitterly;

Therefore his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him,

tAnd return his reproach upon him.

Relentless Judgment on Israel

13 When Ephraim spoke, trembling,

He exalted himself in Israel;

But when he offended through Baal worship, he died.

2 Now they sin more and more,

And have made for themselves molded images,

Idols of their silver, according to their skill;

All of it is the work of craftsmen.

They say of them,

“Let 1the men who sacrifice 2kiss the calves!”

3 Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud

And like the early dew that passes away,

aLike chaff blown off from a threshing floor

And like smoke from a chimney.

4 “Yet bI am the Lord your God

Ever since the land of Egypt,

And you shall know no God but Me;

For cthere is no savior besides Me.

5 dI 3knew you in the wilderness,

eIn the land of 4great drought.

6 fWhen they had pasture, they were filled;

They were filled and their heart was exalted;

Therefore they forgot Me.

7 “So gI will be to them like a lion;

Like ha leopard by the road I will lurk;

8 I will meet them ilike a bear deprived of her cubs;

I will tear open their rib cage,

And there I will devour them like a lion.

The 5wild beast shall tear them.

9 “O Israel, 6you are destroyed,

But 7your help is from Me.

10 8I will be your King;

jWhere is any other,

That he may save you in all your cities?

And your judges to whom kyou said,

‘Give me a king and princes’?

11 lI gave you a king in My anger,

And took him away in My wrath.

12 “The miniquity of Ephraim is bound up;

His sin is stored up.

13 nThe sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him.

He is an unwise son,

For he should not stay long where children are born.

14 “I will ransom them from the 9power of 1the grave;

I will redeem them from death.

oO Death, 2I will be your plagues!

O 3Grave, 4I will be your destruction!

pPity is hidden from My eyes.

15 Though he is fruitful among his brethren,

qAn east wind shall come;

The wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness.

Then his spring shall become dry,

And his fountain shall be dried up.

He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize.

16 Samaria 5is held guilty,

For she has rrebelled against her God.

They shall fall by the sword,

Their infants shall be dashed in pieces,

And their women with child sripped open.

Israel Restored at Last

14 O Israel, areturn to the Lord your God,

For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;

2 Take words with you,

And return to the Lord.

Say to Him,

“Take away all iniquity;

Receive us graciously,

For we will offer the bsacrifices 1of our lips.

3 Assyria shall cnot save us,

dWe will not ride on horses,

Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’

eFor in You the fatherless finds mercy.”

4 “I will heal their fbacksliding,

I will glove them freely,

For My anger has turned away from him.

5 I will be like the hdew to Israel;

He shall 2grow like the lily,

And 3lengthen his roots like Lebanon.

6 His branches shall 4spread;

iHis beauty shall be like an olive tree,

And jhis fragrance like Lebanon.

7 kThose who dwell under his shadow shall return;

They shall be revived like grain,

And 5grow like a vine.

Their 6scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’

I have heard and observed him.

I am like a green cypress tree;

lYour fruit is found in Me.”

9 Who is wise?

Let him understand these things.

Who is prudent?

Let him know them.

For mthe ways of the Lord are right;

The righteous walk in them,

But transgressors stumble in them.