⁸ “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, Israel?
    How can I make you like Admah?
    How can I treat you like Zeboim?
    I have changed my mind.
        I am deeply moved.
⁹ I will not act on my burning anger.
    I will not destroy Ephraim again.
    I am El, not a human.
    I am the Holy One among you,
        and I will not come to you in anger.

¹⁰ “My people will follow Yahweh when I roar like a lion.
    When I roar, my children will come trembling from the west.
¹¹ They will come trembling like birds from Egypt
    and like doves from Assyria.
        I will settle them in their own homes,”
            declares Yahweh.^[a]

¹² “Ephraim surrounds me with lies.
    The nation of Israel surrounds me with deceit.”
    Judah rebels against El, against the Holy One who is faithful.

² Yahweh brings charges against Judah and punishes Jacob
    because of the way their people act.
    He will pay them back for what they have done.
³ Their ancestor Jacob held on to his brother’s heel
    while the two of them were in their mother’s womb.
    When Jacob became a man, he struggled with Elohim.
⁴ He struggled with the Messenger and won.
    Jacob cried and pleaded with him.
        Jacob found him at Bethel,
            and he talked with him there.
⁵ Yahweh is the God of Armies.
    Yahweh is the name by which he is remembered.
⁶ Return to your Elohim.
    Be loyal and fair, and always wait with hope for your Elohim.

⁷ The Lord says, “The merchants use dishonest scales.
    They love to cheat people.
⁸ The people of Ephraim say, ‘We’re rich. We’ve made a fortune.
    With all this wealth, no one will find us guilty of any sin.’
⁹ I am Yahweh your Elohim.
    I brought you out of Egypt.
    I will make you live in tents again
    as you did during your appointed festivals.
¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets and gave them many visions.
    I taught lessons through the prophets.”^[c]

¹¹ The people of Gilead are evil.
    They are worthless.
    They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal.
        But their altars will become like piles of rubble
            beside a plowed field.
¹² Jacob fled to the country of Syria.
    Israel worked to get a wife; he took care of sheep to pay for her.

We have heard a message from Yahweh.
    A messenger was sent among the nations to say,
        “Get ready! Let’s go to war against Edom.”

² “Edom, I will make you the smallest of nations.
    Others will despise you.
³         Your arrogance has deceived you.
            You live on rocky cliffs.
            You make your home up high.
            You say to yourself,
                ‘No one can bring me down to earth.’
⁴ Even though you fly high like an eagle
    and build your nest among the stars,
        I will bring you down from there,” declares Yahweh.

⁵ “If thieves or looters come to you during the night,
    won’t they steal only until they’ve had enough?
        You will be ruined!
    If people come to pick your grapes,
    won’t they leave a few grapes behind?
⁶         But you, Esau,^[a] will lose everything.
            Even your hidden treasures will be looted.
⁷ All your allies will force you to leave your land.
    The people who are at peace with you will deceive you.
    Those who eat food with you will set traps for you,
        and you won’t even know about it.

⁸ “On that day I will destroy the wise people in Edom
    and take wisdom away from Esau’s mountain,” declares Yahweh.
⁹ “Teman, your warriors will be terrified.
    Everyone on Esau’s mountain will be slaughtered.

¹⁷ “But refugees will live on Mount Zion.
    It will be holy.
    The descendants of Jacob will get back their possessions.
¹⁸ The descendants of Jacob will be like a fire.
    The descendants of Joseph will be like a flame.
    But the descendants of Esau will be like straw.
        They will be burned and destroyed.
            There will be no one left among the descendants of Esau.”
                Yahweh has spoken.

¹⁹ “People from the Negev will take possession of Esau’s mountain.
    People from the foothills will take possession of Philistia.
    They will take possession of the lands of Ephraim and Samaria,
        and the descendants of Benjamin will take possession of Gilead.
²⁰ Exiles from Israel will take possession of Canaan.
    They will possess land as far as Zarephath.
    Exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
    will take possession of the cities in the Negev.
²¹ Those who are victorious will come from Mount Zion
    to rule Esau’s mountain.
        The kingdom will belong to Yahweh.”