³ For now they say,
“We have no king,
Because we did not fear the Lord.
And as for a king, what would he do for us?”
⁴ They have spoken words,
Swearing falsely in making a covenant.
Thus judgment springs up ^(D)like hemlock in the furrows of the field.

⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria fear
Because of the ^(E)calf^[b] of Beth Aven.
For its people mourn for it,
And ^[c]its priests shriek for it—
Because its ^(F)glory has departed from it.
⁶ The idol also shall be carried to Assyria
As a present for King ^(G)Jareb.
Ephraim shall receive shame,
And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

⁷ As for Samaria, her king is cut off
Like a twig on the water.
⁸ Also the ^(H)high places of ^[d]Aven, ^(I)the sin of Israel,
Shall be destroyed.
The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars;
^(J)They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹ “O Israel, you have sinned from the days of ^(K)Gibeah;
There they stood.
The ^(L)battle in Gibeah against the children of ^[e]iniquity
Did not ^[f]overtake them.
¹⁰ When it is My desire, I will chasten them.
^(M)Peoples shall be gathered against them
When I bind them ^[g]for their two transgressions.
¹¹ Ephraim is ^(N)a trained heifer
That loves to thresh grain;
But I harnessed her fair neck,
I will make Ephraim ^[h]pull a plow.
Judah shall plow;
Jacob shall break his clods.”

¹² Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
^(O)Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He ^(P)comes and rains righteousness on you.

^13 (Q)You have plowed wickedness;
You have reaped iniquity.
You have eaten the fruit of lies,
Because you trusted in your own way,
In the multitude of your mighty men.
¹⁴ Therefore tumult shall arise among your people,
And all your fortresses shall be plundered
As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle—
A mother dashed in pieces upon her children.
¹⁵ Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
Because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
Shall be cut off utterly.

³ “I^(D) taught Ephraim to walk,
Taking them by ^[d]their arms;
But they did not know that ^(E)I healed them.
⁴ I drew them with ^[e]gentle cords,
With bands of love,
And ^(F)I was to them as those who take the yoke from their ^[f]neck.
^(G)I 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 ^(H)backsliding from Me.
Though ^[g]they call ^[h]to the Most High,
None at all exalt Him.

⁸ “How^(I) can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like ^(J)Admah?
How can I set you like Zeboiim?
My heart ^[i]churns within Me;
My sympathy is stirred.
⁹ I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
^(K)For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in your midst;
And I will not ^[j]come with terror.

¹⁰ “They shall walk after the Lord.
^(L)He 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,
^(M)Like a dove from the land of Assyria.
^(N)And I will let them dwell in their houses,”
Says the Lord.

² “The^(D) Lord also brings a ^[c]charge against Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
According to his deeds He will recompense him.
³ He took his brother ^(E)by the heel in the womb,
And in his strength he ^(F)struggled with God.
⁴ Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
He wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in ^(G)Bethel,
And there He spoke to us—
⁵ That is, the Lord God of hosts.
The Lord is His ^(H)memorable name.
^6 (I)So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait on your God continually.

⁷ “A cunning ^[d]Canaanite!
^(J)Deceitful 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;
^(L)I will again make you dwell in tents,
As in the days of the appointed feast.
^10 (M)I have also spoken by the prophets,
And have multiplied visions;
I have given ^[e]symbols ^[f]through the witness of the prophets.”

¹¹ Though ^(N)Gilead has idols—
Surely they are ^[g]vanity—
Though they sacrifice bulls in ^(O)Gilgal,
Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.

¹² Jacob ^(P)fled to the country of Syria;
^(Q)Israel served for a spouse,
And for a wife he tended sheep.
^13 (R)By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
And by a prophet he was preserved.
¹⁴ Ephraim ^(S)provoked Him to anger most bitterly;
Therefore his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him,
^(T)And return his reproach upon him.

⁴ “Yet ^(B)I am the Lord your God
Ever since the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no God but Me;
For ^(C)there is no savior besides Me.
^5 (D)I ^[c]knew you in the wilderness,
^(E)In the land of ^[d]great drought.
^6 (F)When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore they forgot Me.

⁷ “So ^(G)I will be to them like a lion;
Like ^(H)a leopard by the road I will lurk;
⁸ I will meet them ^(I)like a bear deprived of her cubs;
I will tear open their rib cage,
And there I will devour them like a lion.
The ^[e]wild beast shall tear them.

⁹ “O Israel, ^[f]you are destroyed,
But ^[g]your help is from Me.
^10 [h]I will be your King;
^(J)Where is any other,
That he may save you in all your cities?
And your judges to whom ^(K)you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?
^11 (L)I gave you a king in My anger,
And took him away in My wrath.

¹² “The^(M) iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is stored up.
^13 (N)The 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 ^[i]power of ^[j]the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
^(O)O Death, ^[k]I will be your plagues!
O ^[l]Grave, ^[m]I will be your destruction!
^(P)Pity is hidden from My eyes.”

¹⁵ Though he is fruitful among his brethren,
^(Q)An 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 ^[n]is held guilty,
For she has ^(R)rebelled against her God.
They shall fall by the sword,
Their infants shall be dashed in pieces,
And their women with child ^(S)ripped open.

⁴ “I will heal their ^(F)backsliding,
I will ^(G)love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from him.
⁵ I will be like the ^(H)dew to Israel;
He shall ^[b]grow like the lily,
And ^[c]lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
⁶ His branches shall ^[d]spread;
^(I)His beauty shall be like an olive tree,
And ^(J)his fragrance like Lebanon.
^7 (K)Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;
They shall be revived like grain,
And ^[e]grow like a vine.
Their ^[f]scent 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;
^(L)Your fruit is found in Me.”

⁹ Who is wise?
Let him understand these things.
Who is prudent?
Let him know them.
For ^(M)the ways of the Lord are right;
The righteous walk in them,
But transgressors stumble in them.