she conceived, and bare Cain’. In this prophecy, God was not just addressing the northern kingdom; he spoke of the ‘whole family I brought up out of Egypt’. Although the Israelites had been split into two nations for a long while, God still saw them as one people. But privileges go hand-in-hand with responsibilities. We have already seen some of the sins of Israel described in lurid detail. Now, as the Lord highlights his choice of the people we can see how ungrateful they were, especially in view