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.^(M)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.^(N)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.^(O)
8 Israel is swallowed up;^(P)
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.^(Q)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria^(R)
    like a wild donkey^(S) wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.^(T)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.^(U)
They will begin to waste away^(V)
    under the oppression of the mighty king.

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