Historical
Israel Reaps the Whirlwind
8 (A)Put the trumpet to your [a]mouth!
(B)Like an eagle the enemy comes (C)against the house of Yahweh
Because they have (D)trespassed against My covenant
And transgressed against My (E)law.
2 (F)They cry out to Me,
“My God, (G)we of Israel know You!”
3 Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.
4 (H)They have set up kings, but not by Me;
They have appointed princes, but I did not know it.
With their (I)silver and gold they have made idols for themselves,
That [b]they might be cut off.
5 [c]He has rejected your (J)calf, O Samaria, saying,
“My anger burns against them!”
How long will they be incapable of (K)innocence?
6 For from Israel is even this!
A (L)craftsman made it, so it is not God;
Surely the calf of Samaria will be smashed to splinters.
7 For (M)they sow the wind,
And they reap the (N)whirlwind.
The standing grain has no growth;
It makes (O)no flour.
Should it make anything, strangers would swallow it up.
8 Israel is (P)swallowed up;
They are now among the nations
Like a (Q)vessel in which no one delights.
9 For they have gone up to (R)Assyria
Like (S)a wild donkey all alone;
Ephraim has (T)hired [d]lovers.
10 Even though they hire allies among the nations,
Now I will (U)gather them up;
And they will begin (V)to [e]diminish
Because of the burden of the (W)king of princes.
11 Since Ephraim has (X)multiplied altars for sin,
They have become altars of sinning for him.
12 Though (Y)I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My (Z)law,
They are counted as a strange thing.
13 As for My (AA)sacrificial gifts,
They (AB)sacrifice the flesh and eat it,
But Yahweh has not accepted them.
Now He will (AC)remember their iniquity
And (AD)punish them for their sins;
They will return to (AE)Egypt.
14 So Israel has (AF)forgotten his Maker and (AG)built palaces;
And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
But I will send a (AH)fire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings.
Days of Punishment Have Come
9 (AI)Do not be glad, O Israel, [f]with rejoicing like the peoples!
For you have (AJ)played the harlot, [g]forsaking your God.
You have loved harlots’ earnings on [h]every threshing floor.
2 Threshing floor and wine press will (AK)not feed them,
And the new wine will deceive [i]them.
3 They will not remain in (AL)the land of Yahweh,
But Ephraim will return to (AM)Egypt,
And in (AN)Assyria they will eat (AO)unclean food.
4 They will not pour out drink offerings of (AP)wine to Yahweh;
(AQ)Their sacrifices will not please Him.
Their bread will [j]be like [k]mourners’ bread;
All who eat of it will be (AR)defiled,
For their bread will be for [l]themselves alone;
It will not enter the house of Yahweh.
5 (AS)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival
And on the day of the (AT)feast of Yahweh?
6 For behold, they will go because of destruction;
Egypt will gather them up; (AU)Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will possess their desirable items of silver;
(AV)Thorns will be in their tents.
7 The days of (AW)punishment have come;
The days of (AX)recompense have come;
[m]Let Israel know this!
The prophet is an (AY)ignorant fool,
The [n]inspired man has (AZ)madness,
Because of the abundance of your (BA)iniquity
And because your hostility has abounded.
8 Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a prophet;
Yet the snare of a bird catcher is in all his ways,
And there is only hostility in the house of his God.
9 They have dug (BB)deep [o]in corruption
As in the days of (BC)Gibeah;
He will (BD)remember their iniquity;
He will punish their sins.
Grapes in the Wilderness
10 I found Israel like (BE)grapes in the wilderness;
I saw your fathers as the (BF)earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season.
But they came to (BG)Baal-peor and devoted themselves to [p](BH)shame,
And they became as (BI)detestable as that which they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their (BJ)glory will fly away like a bird—
No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
12 Though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them [q]until not a man is left.
Surely, (BK)woe to them indeed when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I have seen,
Is planted in a pasture like (BL)Tyre;
But Ephraim will bring out his children for killing.
14 Give them, O Yahweh—what will You give?
Give them a [r](BM)miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15 All their evil is at (BN)Gilgal;
Indeed, I came to hate them there!
Because of the (BO)evil of their deeds
I will drive them out of My house!
I will love them no more;
All their princes are (BP)rebels.
16 (BQ)Ephraim is stricken; their root is dried up;
They will bear (BR)no fruit.
Even though they bear children,
I will put to death the (BS)desirable ones of their womb.
17 My God will despise them
Because they have (BT)not listened to Him;
And they will be (BU)those who flee among the nations.
You Have Sinned, O Israel
10 Israel is a [s]luxuriant (BV)vine;
He produces fruit for himself.
The more abundant his fruit,
The more altars he (BW)abounded;
The better his land,
The better [t]he made the sacred (BX)pillars.
2 Their heart is [u](BY)faithless;
Now they must bear their (BZ)guilt.
[v]Yahweh will (CA)break down their altars
And destroy their sacred pillars.
3 Surely now they will say, “We have (CB)no king,
For we do not fear Yahweh.
As for the king, what can he do for us?”
4 They speak mere words;
[w]With (CC)worthless oaths they cut covenants;
And (CD)judgment flourishes like gall in the furrows of the field.
5 The dweller of Samaria will fear
For the [x](CE)calf of (CF)Beth-aven.
Indeed, its people will mourn for it,
And its (CG)idolatrous priests [y]will cry out over it,
Over its (CH)glory, since it has gone into exile from them.
6 The thing itself will be carried to (CI)Assyria
As tribute to [z](CJ)King Jareb;
Ephraim will (CK)receive shame,
And Israel will be ashamed of its (CL)own counsel.
7 Samaria will be (CM)ruined with her king
Like a stick on the surface of the water.
8 Also the (CN)high places of Aven, the (CO)sin of Israel, will be [aa]eradicated;
(CP)Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars;
Then they will (CQ)say to the mountains,
“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 From the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
There they stand!
Will not the battle against the sons of injustice overtake them in Gibeah?
10 When it is My (CR)desire, I will [ab](CS)chastise them;
And (CT)the peoples will be gathered against them
When they are bound for their double guilt.
The Trained Heifer
11 And Ephraim is a trained (CU)heifer that loves to thresh,
But I will (CV)come over her fair neck with a yoke;
I will harness Ephraim;
Judah will plow; Jacob will harrow for himself.
12 (CW)Sow with a view to righteousness,
Reap in accordance with lovingkindness;
(CX)Break up your fallow ground,
Indeed, it is time to (CY)seek Yahweh
Until He (CZ)comes and [ac](DA)rains righteousness on you.
13 You have (DB)plowed wickedness; you have reaped injustice;
You have eaten the fruit of (DC)deception.
Because you have trusted in your way, in your (DD)abundant warriors,
14 Therefore a rumbling will arise among your people,
And all your (DE)fortifications will be destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
When (DF)mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
15 Thus it will be done to you at Bethel because of your evil of evils.
At dawn the king of Israel will be completely ruined.
The Beloved Son
11 When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And (DG)out of Egypt I (DH)called My son.
2 The more [ad](DI)they called them,
The more they went from [ae]them;
They kept (DJ)sacrificing to the Baals
And (DK)burning incense to graven images.
3 Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk;
[af]I (DL)took them in My arms;
But they did not know that I (DM)healed them.
4 I (DN)led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,
And (DO)I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and (DP)fed them.
5 [ag]They will not return to the land of Egypt;
But Assyria—he will be [ah]their king
Because they (DQ)refused to return to Me.
6 And the (DR)sword will whirl against [ai]their cities
And will consume [aj]their gate bars
And (DS)devour them because of their (DT)counsels.
7 So My people are hung up on (DU)turning from Me.
Though [ak]they call [al]them to the One on high,
None at all exalts Him.
8 (DV)How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I give you over to be like (DW)Admah?
How can I make you like (DX)Zeboiim?
My heart is turned over within Me;
[am]All My compassions are stirred.
9 I will (DY)not execute My burning anger;
I will not make Ephraim a ruin (DZ)again.
For (EA)I am God and not man, the (EB)Holy One in your midst,
And I will not come in [an]wrath.
10 They will (EC)walk after Yahweh;
He will (ED)roar like a lion;
Indeed, He will roar,
And His sons will come (EE)trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling like birds from (EF)Egypt
And like (EG)doves from the land of (EH)Assyria;
And I will (EI)settle them in their houses, declares Yahweh.
12 [ao]Ephraim surrounds Me with [ap](EJ)lies
And the house of Israel with deceit;
And Judah is also unruly against God,
Even against the Holy One who is faithful.
12 [aq]Ephraim feeds on (EK)wind
And pursues the (EL)east wind continually;
He abounds in falsehood and destruction.
Moreover, [ar]he cuts a covenant with Assyria,
And oil is carried to Egypt.
Yahweh’s Contention with Judah
2 And Yahweh has a (EM)contention with Judah
And will punish Jacob (EN)according to his ways;
He will cause everything to return to him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he (EO)took his brother by the heel,
And in his maturity he [as](EP)wrestled with God.
4 Indeed, he [at]wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept and (EQ)sought His favor.
He found Him at (ER)Bethel,
And there He spoke with us,
5 Even Yahweh, the God of hosts,
Yahweh is His [au](ES)name of remembrance.
6 Therefore, (ET)return to your God,
(EU)Keep lovingkindness and justice,
And (EV)hope in your God continually.
7 A [av]merchant, in whose hands are deceptive (EW)balances,
He loves to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, “Surely I have become (EX)rich;
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors they will find in me
(EY)No iniquity, which would be sin.”
9 But I have been Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt;
I will make you (EZ)settle in tents again,
As in the days of the appointed festival.
10 And I have spoken to the (FA)prophets,
And I [aw]made visions abound,
And by the hand of the prophets I gave (FB)parables.
11 Is there wickedness in Gilead?
Surely they are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
Yes, (FC)their altars are like the stone heaps
Beside the furrows of the field.
12 Now (FD)Jacob fled to the field of Aram,
And (FE)Israel worked for a wife,
And for a wife he kept sheep.
13 But by a (FF)prophet Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt,
And by a prophet he was kept.
14 (FG)Ephraim has provoked to bitter anger;
So his Lord will leave his (FH)bloodguilt on him
And cause his (FI)reproach to return to him.
Ephraim’s Idolatry
13 (FJ)When Ephraim [ax]spoke, there was trembling.
He (FK)lifted himself up in Israel,
But through (FL)Baal he became guilty and died.
2 And now they sin more and more
And make for themselves (FM)molten images,
Idols (FN)made from their silver according to their understanding,
All of them the (FO)work of craftsmen.
They are saying of them, “Let the [ay]men who sacrifice kiss the (FP)calves!”
3 Therefore they will be like the (FQ)morning cloud
And like dew which [az]soon disappears,
Like (FR)chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor
And like (FS)smoke from a [ba]chimney.
4 Yet I have been (FT)Yahweh your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know (FU)any god except Me,
And there is no savior (FV)besides Me.
5 I Myself (FW)knew you in the wilderness,
(FX)In the land of drought.
6 As they had their pasture, then they became (FY)satisfied,
Indeed, they were satisfied, and their (FZ)heart became raised up;
Therefore they (GA)forgot Me.
7 So I will be (GB)like a lion to them;
Like a (GC)leopard I will [bb]lie in wait by the wayside.
8 I will encounter them (GD)like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open [bc]the chest enclosing their heart;
There I will also (GE)devour them like a lioness,
As a beast of the field would rip them open.
9 It is your ruin, O Israel,
[bd]That you are (GF)against Me, against your (GG)help.
10 Where now is your (GH)king,
That he may save you in all your cities,
And your (GI)judges of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I (GJ)gave you a king in My anger
And (GK)took him away in My wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is (GL)stored up.
13 The pains of (GM)childbirth come upon him;
He is (GN)not a wise son,
For [be]it is not the time that he should (GO)delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I (GP)ransom them from the [bf]power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
(GQ)O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
(GR)Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
15 Though he (GS)is fruitful among the [bg]reeds,
An (GT)east wind will come,
The wind of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will (GU)become dry,
And his spring will be dried up;
It will (GV)plunder his treasury of every desirable article.
16 [bh]Samaria will be held (GW)guilty,
For she has (GX)rebelled against her God.
(GY)They will fall by the (GZ)sword;
Their infants will be (HA)dashed in pieces,
And their pregnant (HB)women will be ripped open.
Yahweh’s Anger Turns Away from Israel
14 [bi](HC)Return, O Israel, to Yahweh your God,
For you have stumbled in your (HD)iniquity.
2 Take words with you and return to Yahweh.
Say to Him, “(HE)Forgive all iniquity
And [bj]take what is good,
That we may (HF)pay in full [bk]the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria will not save us;
We will (HG)not ride on horses,
Nor will we say again, ‘(HH)Our god,’
To the (HI)work of our hands;
For in (HJ)You the [bl]orphan finds compassion.”
4 I will (HK)heal their turning away from Me;
I will (HL)love them freely,
For My anger has (HM)turned away from them.
5 I will be like the (HN)dew to Israel;
He will flourish like the (HO)lily,
And he will [bm]take root like the cedars of (HP)Lebanon.
6 His shoots will go forth,
And his splendor will be like the (HQ)olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of (HR)Lebanon.
7 Those who (HS)live in his shadow
Will [bn]again raise (HT)grain,
And they will flourish like the vine.
His name of remembrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
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