⁷ The days of ^(O)punishment have come,
The days of ^(P)retribution have come;
^[i]Let Israel know this!
The prophet is a ^(Q)fool,
The ^[j]inspired person is ^(R)insane,
Because of the grossness of your ^(S)wrongdoing,
And because your ^[k]hostility is so great.
⁸ Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a prophet;
Yet the snare of a bird catcher is in all his ways,
And there is only ^[l]hostility in the house of his God.
⁹ They are ^(T)deeply depraved
As in the days of ^(U)Gibeah;
He will ^(V)remember their guilt,
He will punish their sins.

¹⁰ I found Israel like ^(W)grapes in the wilderness;
I saw your forefathers as the ^(X)earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season.
But they came to ^(Y)Baal-peor and devoted themselves to ^[m](Z)shame,
And they became as ^(AA)detestable as that which they loved.
¹¹ As for Ephraim, their ^(AB)glory will fly away like a bird—
No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
¹² Though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them of their children ^[n]until not a person is left.
Yes, ^(AC)woe to them indeed when I depart from them!
¹³ Ephraim, as I have seen,
Is planted in a pasture like ^(AD)Tyre;
But Ephraim is going to bring out his children for slaughter.
¹⁴ Give to them, Lord—what will You give?
Give them a ^(AE)miscarrying womb and dried-up breasts.

¹⁵ All their evil is at ^(AF)Gilgal;
Indeed, I came to hate them there!
Because of the ^(AG)wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of My house!
I will no longer love them;
All their leaders are ^(AH)rebels.
^16 (AI)Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up,
They will produce ^(AJ)no fruit.
Even though they give birth to children,
I will put to death the ^(AK)precious ones of their womb.
¹⁷ My God will reject them
Because they have ^(AL)not listened to Him;
And they will be ^(AM)wanderers among the nations.

³ Certainly now they will say, “We have ^(AT)no king,
For we do not revere the Lord.
As for the king, what can he do for us?”
⁴ They speak mere words,
^[s]With ^(AU)worthless oaths they make covenants;
And ^(AV)judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria will fear
For the ^[t](AW)calf of ^(AX)Beth-aven.
Indeed, its people will mourn for it,
And its ^(AY)idolatrous priests ^[u]will cry out over it,
Over its ^(AZ)glory, since it has left it.
⁶ The thing itself will be brought to ^(BA)Assyria
As a gift of tribute to ^[v](BB)King Jareb;
Ephraim will ^[w]be ^(BC)seized with shame,
And Israel will be ashamed of its ^(BD)own plan.
⁷ Samaria will be ^(BE)destroyed with her king,
Like a twig on the surface of the water.
⁸ Also the ^(BF)high places of Aven, the ^(BG)sin of Israel, will be destroyed;
^(BH)Thorns and thistles will grow on their altars;
Then they will ^(BI)say to the mountains,
“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
⁹ Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, Israel;
There they stand!
Will the battle against the sons of injustice not overtake them in Gibeah?
¹⁰ When it is My ^(BJ)desire, I will ^[x](BK)discipline them;
And ^(BL)the peoples will be gathered against them
When they are bound for their double guilt.

¹¹ Ephraim is a trained ^(BM)heifer that loves to thresh,
^[y]And I ^(BN)passed over her lovely neck;
I will harness Ephraim,
Judah will plow, Jacob will ^[z]harrow for himself.
^12 (BO)Sow for yourselves, with a view to righteousness;
Harvest in accordance with ^[aa]kindness.
^(BP)Break up your uncultivated ground,
For it is time to ^(BQ)seek the Lord
Until He ^(BR)comes and ^(BS)rains righteousness on you.
¹³ You have ^(BT)plowed wickedness, you have harvested injustice,
You have eaten the fruit of ^(BU)lies.
Because you have trusted in your way, in your ^(BV)many warriors,
¹⁴ An uproar will arise among your people,
And all your ^(BW)fortresses will be destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
When ^(BX)mothers were ^[ab]slaughtered with their children.
¹⁵ So it will be done to you at Bethel because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

^5 [af]They will not return to the land of Egypt;
But Assyria—he will be ^[ag]their king
Because they ^(CI)refused to return to Me.
⁶ And the ^(CJ)sword will whirl against ^[ah]their cities,
And will destroy ^[ai]their oracle priests
And ^(CK)consume them, because of their ^(CL)counsels.
⁷ So My people are determined to ^(CM)turn from Me.
Though ^[aj]they call ^[ak]them to the One on high,
None at all exalts Him.

^8 (CN)How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, Israel?
How can I ^[al]make you like ^(CO)Admah?
How can I treat you like ^(CP)Zeboiim?
My heart is turned over within Me,
^[am]All My compassions are kindled.
⁹ I will ^(CQ)not carry out My fierce anger;
I will not destroy Ephraim ^(CR)again.
For ^(CS)I am God and not a man, the ^(CT)Holy One in your midst,
And I will not come in ^[an]wrath.
¹⁰ They will ^(CU)walk after the Lord,
He will ^(CV)roar like a lion;
Indeed He will roar,
And His sons will come ^(CW)trembling from the west.
¹¹ They will come trembling like birds from ^(CX)Egypt,
And like ^(CY)doves from the land of ^(CZ)Assyria;
And I will ^(DA)settle them in their houses, declares the Lord.

^12 [ao]Ephraim surrounds Me with ^(DB)lies
And the house of Israel with deceit;
^[ap]Judah is still unruly against God,
Even against the Holy One who is faithful.