¹⁶     For you are our father.
Were Abraham not to know us,
    nor Israel to acknowledge us,
You, Lord, are our father,
    our redeemer you are named from of old.

⁸ Do not be so very angry, Lord,
    do not remember our crimes forever;
    look upon us, who are all your people!

⁹ With weeping they shall come,
    but with compassion I will guide them;
I will lead them to streams of water,
    on a level road, without stumbling.
For I am a father to Israel,
    Ephraim is my firstborn.^(A)

^1 [a]When Israel was a child I loved him,^(A)
    out of Egypt^[b] I called my son.^(B)
2 The more I called them,
    the farther they went from me,
Sacrificing to the Baals
    and burning incense to idols.
³ Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    who took them in my arms;^(C)
    but they did not know that I cared for them.
⁴ I drew them with human cords,
    with bands of love;^[c]
I fostered them like those
    who raise an infant to their cheeks;
    I bent down to feed them.^(D)