¹⁴ “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
    I will lead her into the wilderness^(A)
    and speak tenderly to her.
¹⁵ There I will give her back her vineyards,
    and will make the Valley of Achor^[a](B) a door of hope.
There she will respond^[b](C) as in the days of her youth,^(D)
    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.^(E)

¹⁶ “In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;^(F)
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.^[c]’
¹⁷ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;^(G)
    no longer will their names be invoked.^(H)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
    with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
    and the creatures that move along the ground.^(I)
Bow and sword and battle
    I will abolish^(J) from the land,
    so that all may lie down in safety.^(K)
19 I will betroth^(L) you to me forever;
    I will betroth you in^[d] righteousness and justice,^(M)
    in^[e] love and compassion.^(N)
20 I will betroth you in^[f] faithfulness,
    and you will acknowledge^(O) the Lord.^(P)

²¹ “In that day I will respond,”
    declares the Lord—
“I will respond^(Q) to the skies,
    and they will respond to the earth;
²² and the earth will respond to the grain,
    the new wine and the olive oil,^(R)
    and they will respond to Jezreel.^[g](S)
23 I will plant^(T) her for myself in the land;
    I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.^[h](U)’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,^[i]’ ‘You are my people’;^(V)
    and they will say, ‘You are my God.^(W)’”

⁴ “But let no one bring a charge,
    let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
    who bring charges against a priest.^(AV)
5 You stumble^(AW) day and night,
    and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother^(AX)—
⁶     my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.^(AY)

“Because you have rejected knowledge,
    I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law^(AZ) of your God,
    I also will ignore your children.
⁷ The more priests there were,
    the more they sinned against me;
    they exchanged their glorious God^[m](BA) for something disgraceful.^(BB)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
    and relish their wickedness.^(BC)
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.^(BD)
    I will punish both of them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.^(BE)

¹⁰ “They will eat but not have enough;^(BF)
    they will engage in prostitution^(BG) but not flourish,
because they have deserted^(BH) the Lord
    to give themselves ¹¹ to prostitution;^(BI)
old wine^(BJ) and new wine
    take away their understanding.^(BK)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,^(BL)
    and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.^(BM)
A spirit of prostitution^(BN) leads them astray;^(BO)
    they are unfaithful^(BP) to their God.
¹³ They sacrifice on the mountaintops
    and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,^(BQ) poplar and terebinth,
    where the shade is pleasant.^(BR)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution^(BS)
    and your daughters-in-law to adultery.^(BT)

¹⁴ “I will not punish your daughters
    when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
    when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots^(BU)
    and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes^(BV)—
    a people without understanding^(BW) will come to ruin!^(BX)

¹⁵ “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
    do not let Judah become guilty.

“Do not go to Gilgal;^(BY)
    do not go up to Beth Aven.^[n](BZ)
    And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’^(CA)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,^(CB)
    like a stubborn heifer.^(CC)
How then can the Lord pasture them
    like lambs^(CD) in a meadow?
¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to idols;
    leave him alone!
¹⁸ Even when their drinks are gone,
    they continue their prostitution;
    their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
¹⁹ A whirlwind^(CE) will sweep them away,
    and their sacrifices will bring them shame.^(CF)

⁴ “Their deeds do not permit them
    to return^(CN) to their God.
A spirit of prostitution^(CO) is in their heart;
    they do not acknowledge^(CP) the Lord.
⁵ Israel’s arrogance testifies^(CQ) against them;
    the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble^(CR) in their sin;
    Judah also stumbles with them.^(CS)
6 When they go with their flocks and herds
    to seek the Lord,^(CT)
they will not find him;
    he has withdrawn^(CU) himself from them.
⁷ They are unfaithful^(CV) to the Lord;
    they give birth to illegitimate^(CW) children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,^(CX)
    he will devour^[o](CY) their fields.

⁸ “Sound the trumpet^(CZ) in Gibeah,^(DA)
    the horn in Ramah.^(DB)
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven^[p];^(DC)
    lead on, Benjamin.
⁹ Ephraim will be laid waste^(DD)
    on the day of reckoning.^(DE)
Among the tribes of Israel
    I proclaim what is certain.^(DF)
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
    who move boundary stones.^(DG)
I will pour out my wrath^(DH) on them
    like a flood of water.
¹¹ Ephraim is oppressed,
    trampled in judgment,
    intent on pursuing idols.^[q](DI)
12 I am like a moth^(DJ) to Ephraim,
    like rot^(DK) to the people of Judah.

¹³ “When Ephraim^(DL) saw his sickness,
    and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,^(DM)
    and sent to the great king for help.^(DN)
But he is not able to cure^(DO) you,
    not able to heal your sores.^(DP)
14 For I will be like a lion^(DQ) to Ephraim,
    like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces^(DR) and go away;
    I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.^(DS)
15 Then I will return to my lair^(DT)
    until they have borne their guilt^(DU)
    and seek my face^(DV)—
in their misery^(DW)
    they will earnestly seek me.^(DX)”

⁴ “What can I do with you, Ephraim?^(EH)
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears.^(EI)
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
    I killed you with the words of my mouth^(EJ)—
    then my judgments go forth like the sun.^[r](EK)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,^(EL)
    and acknowledgment^(EM) of God rather than burnt offerings.^(EN)
7 As at Adam,^[s] they have broken the covenant;^(EO)
    they were unfaithful^(EP) to me there.
⁸ Gilead is a city of evildoers,^(EQ)
    stained with footprints of blood.
⁹ As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,^(ER)
    so do bands of priests;
they murder^(ES) on the road to Shechem,
    carrying out their wicked schemes.^(ET)
10 I have seen a horrible^(EU) thing in Israel:
    There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
    Israel is defiled.^(EV)

¹¹ “Also for you, Judah,
    a harvest^(EW) is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes^(EX) of my people,

³ “They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.^(FF)
4 They are all adulterers,^(FG)
    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,^(FH)
    and he joins hands with the mockers.^(FI)
6 Their hearts are like an oven;^(FJ)
    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,^(FK)
    and none of them calls^(FL) on me.

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

¹¹ “Ephraim is like a dove,^(FR)
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,^(FS)
    now turning to Assyria.^(FT)
12 When they go, I will throw my net^(FU) 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^(FV) to them,
    because they have strayed^(FW) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me^(FX) falsely.^(FY)
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts^(FZ)
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,^[t] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,^(GA)
    but they turn away from me.^(GB)
15 I trained^(GC) them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil^(GD) against me.
¹⁶ They do not turn to the Most High;^(GE)
    they are like a faulty bow.^(GF)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent^(GG) words.
For this they will be ridiculed^(GH)
    in the land of Egypt.^(GI)

⁷ “They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.^(GV)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.^(GW)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.^(GX)
8 Israel is swallowed up;^(GY)
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.^(GZ)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria^(HA)
    like a wild donkey^(HB) wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.^(HC)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.^(HD)
They will begin to waste away^(HE)
    under the oppression of the mighty king.

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