³ “They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.^(H)
4 They are all adulterers,^(I)
    burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
    from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
⁵ On the day of the festival of our king
    the princes become inflamed with wine,^(J)
    and he joins hands with the mockers.^(K)
6 Their hearts are like an oven;^(L)
    they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
⁷ All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,^(M)
    and none of them calls^(N) on me.

⁸ “Ephraim mixes^(O) with the nations;
    Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
⁹ Foreigners sap his strength,^(P)
    but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
    but he does not notice.
¹⁰ Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,^(Q)
    but despite all this
he does not return^(R) to the Lord his God
    or search^(S) for him.

¹¹ “Ephraim is like a dove,^(T)
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,^(U)
    now turning to Assyria.^(V)
12 When they go, I will throw my net^(W) over them;
    I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
    I will catch them.
¹³ Woe^(X) to them,
    because they have strayed^(Y) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me^(Z) falsely.^(AA)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts^(AB)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,^[a] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,^(AC)
    but they turn away from me.^(AD)
15 I trained^(AE) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil^(AF) against me.
¹⁶ They do not turn to the Most High;^(AG)
    they are like a faulty bow.^(AH)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent^(AI) words.
For this they will be ridiculed^(AJ)
    in the land of Egypt.^(AK)

⁷ “They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.^(AX)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.^(AY)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.^(AZ)
8 Israel is swallowed up;^(BA)
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.^(BB)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria^(BC)
    like a wild donkey^(BD) wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.^(BE)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.^(BF)
They will begin to waste away^(BG)
    under the oppression of the mighty king.

¹¹ “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
    these have become altars for sinning.^(BH)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
    but they regarded them as something foreign.^(BI)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
    and though they eat^(BJ) the meat,
    the Lord is not pleased with them.^(BK)
Now he will remember^(BL) their wickedness
    and punish their sins:^(BM)
    They will return to Egypt.^(BN)
14 Israel has forgotten^(BO) their Maker^(BP)
    and built palaces;
    Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
    that will consume their fortresses.”^(BQ)

⁵ What will you do^(CD) on the day of your appointed festivals,^(CE)
    on the feast days of the Lord?
⁶ Even if they escape from destruction,
    Egypt will gather them,^(CF)
    and Memphis^(CG) will bury them.^(CH)
Their treasures of silver^(CI) will be taken over by briers,
    and thorns^(CJ) will overrun their tents.
⁷ The days of punishment^(CK) are coming,
    the days of reckoning^(CL) are at hand.
    Let Israel know this.
Because your sins^(CM) are so many
    and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,^(CN)
    the inspired person a maniac.^(CO)
8 The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,^[b]
yet snares^(CP) await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.^(CQ)
9 They have sunk deep into corruption,^(CR)
    as in the days of Gibeah.^(CS)
God will remember^(CT) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.^(CU)

¹⁰ “When I found Israel,
    it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
    it was like seeing the early fruit^(CV) on the fig^(CW) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,^(CX)
    they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol^(CY)
    and became as vile as the thing they loved.
¹¹ Ephraim’s glory^(CZ) will fly away like a bird^(DA)—
    no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.^(DB)
12 Even if they rear children,
    I will bereave^(DC) them of every one.
Woe^(DD) to them
    when I turn away from them!^(DE)
13 I have seen Ephraim,^(DF) like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place.^(DG)
But Ephraim will bring out
    their children to the slayer.”^(DH)

¹⁴ Give them, Lord—
    what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
    and breasts that are dry.^(DI)

¹⁵ “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,^(DJ)
    I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,^(DK)
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;^(DL)
    all their leaders are rebellious.^(DM)
16 Ephraim^(DN) is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.^(DO)
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay^(DP) their cherished offspring.”

¹⁷ My God will reject^(DQ) them
    because they have not obeyed^(DR) him;
    they will be wanderers among the nations.^(DS)

10 Israel was a spreading vine;^(DT)
    he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
    he built more altars;^(DU)
as his land prospered,^(DV)
    he adorned his sacred stones.^(DW)
2 Their heart is deceitful,^(DX)
    and now they must bear their guilt.^(DY)
The Lord will demolish their altars^(DZ)
    and destroy their sacred stones.^(EA)

³ Then they will say, “We have no king
    because we did not revere the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
    what could he do for us?”
⁴ They make many promises,
    take false oaths^(EB)
    and make agreements;^(EC)
therefore lawsuits spring up
    like poisonous weeds^(ED) in a plowed field.
⁵ The people who live in Samaria fear
    for the calf-idol^(EE) of Beth Aven.^[c](EF)
Its people will mourn over it,
    and so will its idolatrous priests,^(EG)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
    because it is taken from them into exile.^(EH)
6 It will be carried to Assyria^(EI)
    as tribute^(EJ) for the great king.^(EK)
Ephraim will be disgraced;^(EL)
    Israel will be ashamed^(EM) of its foreign alliances.
⁷ Samaria’s king will be destroyed,^(EN)
    swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
⁸ The high places^(EO) of wickedness^[d](EP) will be destroyed—
    it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns^(EQ) and thistles will grow up
    and cover their altars.^(ER)
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”^(ES)
    and to the hills, “Fall on us!”^(ET)

⁹ “Since the days of Gibeah,^(EU) you have sinned,^(EV) Israel,
    and there you have remained.^[e]
Will not war again overtake
    the evildoers in Gibeah?
¹⁰ When I please, I will punish^(EW) them;
    nations will be gathered against them
    to put them in bonds for their double sin.
¹¹ Ephraim is a trained heifer
    that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke^(EX)
    on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
    Judah must plow,
    and Jacob must break up the ground.
¹² Sow^(EY) righteousness^(EZ) for yourselves,
    reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;^(FA)
    for it is time to seek^(FB) the Lord,
until he comes
    and showers his righteousness^(FC) on you.
¹³ But you have planted wickedness,
    you have reaped evil,^(FD)
    you have eaten the fruit of deception.^(FE)
Because you have depended on your own strength
    and on your many warriors,^(FF)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
    so that all your fortresses will be devastated^(FG)—
as Shalman^(FH) devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
    when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.^(FI)
15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,
    because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
    the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.^(FJ)