Ye have plowed lawlessness, perversity, have ye reaped, ye have eaten the fruit of deception, - because thou didst trust in thy chariots, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

Because Israel is a youth, and I love him, Out of Egypt I have called for My Son.

They have called to them rightly, They have gone from before them, To lords they do sacrifice, And to graven images they make perfume.

And I have caused Ephraim to go on foot, Taking them by their arms, And they have not known that I strengthened them.

He turneth not back unto the land of Egypt, And Asshur -- he is his king, For they have refused to return.

Therefore shall the sword begin in their cities, the store that they have laid up shall be destroyed and eaten up: and that because of their own imaginations.

How do I give thee up, O Ephraim? Do I deliver thee up, O Israel? How do I make thee as Admah? Do I set thee as Zeboim? Turned in Me is My heart, kindled together have been My repentings.

therefore have I not turned me to destroy Ephraim in my wrathful displeasure. For I am God, and no man: I am even that holy one in the midst of thee, though I came not within the city.

They tremble as a sparrow out of Egypt, And as a dove out of the land of Asshur, And I have caused them to dwell in their own houses, An affirmation of Jehovah.

They have compassed me about - with denial, Ephraim, with deceit, the house of Israel, - but, Judah, hath, again and again, run riot with GOD, though, with the holy places, entrusted.

A merchant, in whose hand are false and fraudulent balances;
He loves to oppress and exploit.

So then Ephraim said, Surely I have gotten me riches, I have found wealth for myself, - in all my toils, they cannot find in me perversity which is sin.

But, I, Yahweh, have been thy God, from the land of Egypt, - I will yet make thee dwell in tents, as in the days of appointed meeting.

And I will lay my word upon the prophets, yea, I myself, have magnified, vision, - and, by the hand of the prophets, will I use similitudes.

If, Gilead, is in sorrow, surely false, have they been, In Gilgal, have they sacrificed, bullocks, - their very altars, shall become as heaps upon the furrows of the field.

I have been bitterly moved to wrath by Ephraim; so that his blood will be on him, and the Lord will make his shame come back on him.

Now, therefore they go on to sin, and have made them a Molten Thing out of their silver, after the notion of idols, the workmanship of craftsmen, all of it! Of them, are they saying - Ye sacrificers of men! The Great Calf, shall ye surely kiss!

Yet, I, Yahweh, have been thy God from the land of Egypt, - and, god beside me, shalt thou not acknowledge, for, saviour, is there none besides me.

I -- I have known thee in a wilderness, In a land of droughts.

According to their feedings they are satiated, They have been satiated, And their heart is lifted up, Therefore they have forgotten Me,

So I will be like a lion to them;
Like a leopard I will watch and lie in wait [ready to attack] by the road [to Assyria].

I will come face to face with them like a bear whose young ones have been taken from her, and their inmost hearts will be broken; there the dogs will make a meal of them; they will be wounded by the beasts of the field.

"You have destroyed yourself, Israel, although I remain your help.

I gave you a king in My anger,
And I took him away in My wrath [as punishment].

Therefore shall sorrows come upon him, as upon a woman that travaileth. An indiscreet son is he: for he considereth not, that he should not have been able to have endured in the time of his birth,

I will give the price to make them free from the power of the underworld, I will be their saviour from death: O death! where are your pains? O underworld! where is your destruction? my eyes will have no pity.

"Return, Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have fallen due to your own iniquity.

Assyria cannot save us; we will not ride warhorses. We will never again say, 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made. For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!"

"I will correct their apostasy, loving them freely, since my anger will have turned away from them.

They will come back and have rest in his shade; their life will be made new like the grain, and they will put out flowers like the vine; his name will be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim saith - What to me any more are idols? I, have answered, and have closely observed him, I, am like a fir-tree that is green, From me, is thy fruit found.

He who is wise will see these things; he who has good sense will have knowledge of them. For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the upright will go in them, but sinners will be falling in them.