¹¹ I, even I, am the Lord,^(A)
    and apart from me there is no savior.^(B)

²¹ Declare what is to be, present it—
    let them take counsel together.
Who foretold^(A) this long ago,
    who declared it from the distant past?^(B)
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no God apart from me,^(C)
a righteous God^(D) and a Savior;^(E)
    there is none but me.

⁴ “But I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt.^(M)
You shall acknowledge^(N) no God but me,^(O)
    no Savior^(P) except me.
⁵ I cared for you in the wilderness,^(Q)
    in the land of burning heat.
⁶ When I fed them, they were satisfied;
    when they were satisfied, they became proud;^(R)
    then they forgot^(S) me.^(T)
7 So I will be like a lion^(U) to them,
    like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
⁸ Like a bear robbed of her cubs,^(V)
    I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion^(W) I will devour them—
    a wild animal will tear them apart.^(X)

⁹ “You are destroyed, Israel,
    because you are against me,^(Y) against your helper.^(Z)
10 Where is your king,^(AA) that he may save you?
    Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
    ‘Give me a king and princes’?^(AB)
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,^(AC)
    and in my wrath I took him away.^(AD)
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
    his sins are kept on record.^(AE)
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth^(AF) come to him,
    but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time^(AG) arrives,
    he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.^(AH)

¹⁴ “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;^(AI)
    I will redeem them from death.^(AJ)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
    Where, O grave, is your destruction?^(AK)

“I will have no compassion,
¹⁵     even though he thrives^(AL) among his brothers.
An east wind^(AM) from the Lord will come,
    blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
    and his well dry up.^(AN)
His storehouse will be plundered^(AO)
    of all its treasures.
¹⁶ The people of Samaria^(AP) must bear their guilt,^(AQ)
    because they have rebelled^(AR) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;^(AS)
    their little ones will be dashed^(AT) to the ground,
    their pregnant women^(AU) ripped open.”^[b]

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.^(N)
5 You stumble^(O) day and night,
    and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother^(P)—
⁶     my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.^(Q)

“Because you have rejected knowledge,
    I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law^(R) 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^[b](S) for something disgraceful.^(T)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
    and relish their wickedness.^(U)
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.^(V)
    I will punish both of them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.^(W)

¹⁰ “They will eat but not have enough;^(X)
    they will engage in prostitution^(Y) but not flourish,
because they have deserted^(Z) the Lord
    to give themselves ¹¹ to prostitution;^(AA)
old wine^(AB) and new wine
    take away their understanding.^(AC)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,^(AD)
    and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.^(AE)
A spirit of prostitution^(AF) leads them astray;^(AG)
    they are unfaithful^(AH) to their God.
¹³ They sacrifice on the mountaintops
    and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,^(AI) poplar and terebinth,
    where the shade is pleasant.^(AJ)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution^(AK)
    and your daughters-in-law to adultery.^(AL)

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^(AM)
    and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes^(AN)—
    a people without understanding^(AO) will come to ruin!^(AP)

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

“Do not go to Gilgal;^(AQ)
    do not go up to Beth Aven.^[c](AR)
    And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’^(AS)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,^(AT)
    like a stubborn heifer.^(AU)
How then can the Lord pasture them
    like lambs^(AV) 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^(AW) will sweep them away,
    and their sacrifices will bring them shame.^(AX)