⁷ So I will be ^(A)like a lion to them;
Like a ^(B)leopard I will ^[a]lie in wait by the wayside.
⁸ I will encounter them ^(C)like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open ^[b]their chests;
There I will also ^(D)devour them like a lioness,
As a wild beast would tear them.

⁹ It is your destruction, O Israel,
^[c]That you are ^(E)against Me, against your ^(F)help.
¹⁰ Where now is your ^(G)king
That he may save you in all your cities,
And your ^(H)judges of whom you ^[d]requested,
“Give me a king and princes”?
¹¹ I ^(I)gave you a king in My anger
And ^(J)took him away in My wrath.

¹² The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is ^(K)stored up.
¹³ The pains of ^(L)childbirth come upon him;
He is ^(M)not a wise son,
For ^[e]it is not the time that he should ^(N)delay at the opening of the womb.
¹⁴ Shall I ^(O)ransom them from the ^[f]power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
^(P)O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
^(Q)Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

¹⁵ Though he ^(R)flourishes among the ^[g]reeds,
An ^(S)east wind will come,
The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will ^(T)become dry
And his spring will be dried up;
It will ^(U)plunder his treasury of every precious article.
^16 [h]Samaria will be held ^(V)guilty,
For she has ^(W)rebelled against her God.
^(X)They will fall by the ^(Y)sword,
Their little ones will be ^(Z)dashed in pieces,
And their pregnant ^(AA)women will be ripped open.