¹When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel: but he trespassed through Baal, and he died. ²And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. ³Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the lattice. ⁴Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou hast known no God but me; and there is no saviour besides me.

⁵I knew thee in the wilderness, in the land of drought. ⁶According to their pasture, they became full; they became full, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me. ⁷And I will be unto them as a lion; as a leopard I will lurk for them by the way; ⁸I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the covering of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lioness: the beast of the field shall tear them.

⁹It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against me, against thy help. ¹⁰Where then is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? — ¹¹I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. ¹²The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid by in store. ¹³The pangs of a woman in travail shall come upon him: he is a son not wise; for at the time of the breaking forth of children, he was not there. ¹⁴I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death: where, O death, are thy plagues? where, O Sheol, is thy destruction? Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. ¹⁵Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, a wind of Jehovah that cometh up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels. ¹⁶Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Chapter 14

¹O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. ²Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah; say unto him, Forgive all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips. ³Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Thou art our God; because in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

⁴I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him. ⁵I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. ⁶His shoots shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. ⁷They shall return and sit under his shadow; they shall revive as corn, and blossom as the vine: the renown thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

⁸Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? (I answer him, and I will observe him.) I am like a green fir-tree. —From me is thy fruit found. ⁹Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? intelligent, and he shall know them? For the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein.

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