12 Ephraim herds the wind
    and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence;
    they make a treaty with Assyria,
    and oil is carried to Egypt.^(A)

^12 [a]Ephraim has surrounded me with lies
    and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks^[b] with God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.^(A)

⁷ For they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
    it shall yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
    foreigners would devour it.^(A)

Through a land of trouble and distress,
    of lioness and roaring^[a] lion,
    of viper and flying serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys
    and their treasures on the humps of camels
    to a people that cannot profit them.^(A)
7 For Egypt’s help is worthless and empty;
    therefore I have called her,
    “Rahab who sits still.”^[b](B)

² “Should the wise answer with windy knowledge
    and fill themselves with the east wind?^(A)