and Jehovah saith unto him, 'Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little, and I have charged the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and have caused to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel;

and it hath come to pass in that day that I have broken the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.'

and the house of Judah I pity, and have saved them by Jehovah their God, and do not save them by bow, and by sword, and by battle, by horses, and by horsemen.'

and gathered have been the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel together, and they have appointed to themselves one head, and have gone up from the land, for great is the day of Jezreel.

Lest I strip her naked. And have set her up as in the day of her birth, And have made her as a wilderness, And have set her as a dry land, And have put her to death with thirst.

Therefore, lo, I am hedging up thy way with thorns, And I have made for her a wall, And her paths she doth not find.

Therefore do I turn back, And I have taken My corn in its season, And My new wine in its appointed time, And I have taken away My wool and My flax, covering her nakedness.

And I have caused to cease all her joy, Her festival, her new moon, and her sabbath, Even all her appointed times,

And made desolate her vine and her fig-tree, Of which she said, A gift they are to me, That my lovers have given to me, And I have made them for a forest, And consumed them hath a beast of the field.

And I have charged on her the days of the Baalim, To whom she maketh perfume, And putteth on her ring and her ornament, And goeth after her lovers, And Me forgat -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

Therefore, lo, I am enticing her, And have caused her to go to the wilderness, And I have spoken unto her heart,

And I have turned aside the names of the lords from her mouth, And they are not remembered any more by their name.

And I have made to them a covenant in that day, with the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the creeping thing of the ground, And bow, and sword, and war I break from off the land, And have caused them to lie down confidently.

And I have betrothed thee to Me to the age, And betrothed thee to Me in righteousness, And in judgment, and kindness, and mercies,

And I have sowed her to Me in the land, And I have pitied Lo-Ruhamah, And I have said to Lo-Ammi, My people thou art, and it saith, My God!'

Afterwards turned back have the sons of Israel, and sought Jehovah their God, and David their king, and have hastened unto Jehovah, and unto His goodness, in the latter end of the days.

Swearing, and lying, and murdering, And stealing, and committing adultery -- have increased, And blood against blood hath touched.

And thou hast stumbled in the day, And stumbled hath also a prophet with thee in the night, And I have cut off thy mother.

Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also!

And it hath been, like people, like priest, And I have charged on it its ways, And its habitual doings I return to it.

And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

Sour is their drink, They have gone diligently a-whoring, Her protectors have loved shame thoroughly.

Hear this, O priests, and attend, O house of Israel, And, O house of the king, give ear, For the judgment is for you, For, a snare ye have been on Mizpah, And a net spread out on Tabor.

And to slaughter sinners have gone deep, And I am a fetter to them all.

I have known Ephraim, And Israel hath not been hid from me, For now thou hast gone a-whoring, Ephraim, Defiled is Israel.

They give not up their habitual doings, To turn back unto their God, For a spirit of whoredoms is in their midst, And Jehovah they have not known.

Against Jehovah they dealt treacherously, For strange sons they have begotten, Now consume them doth a month with their portions.

Ephraim is for a desolation in a day of reproof, Among the tribes of Israel I have made known a sure thing.

Princes of Judah have been as those removing a border, On them I do pour out as water My wrath.

I go -- I turn back unto My place, Till that they are desolate, and have sought My face. In their distress they do seek Me speedily!'

Therefore I have hewed by prophets, I have slain them by sayings of My mouth, And My judgments to the light goeth forth.

And as bands do wait for a man, A company of priests do murder -- the way to Shechem, For wickedness they have done.

In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing, There is the whoredom of Ephraim -- defiled is Israel.

'When I give healing to Israel, Then revealed is the iniquity of Ephraim, And the wickedness of Samaria, For they have wrought falsehood, And a thief doth come in, Stript off hath a troop in the street,

And they do not say to their heart, That all their evil I have remembered, Now compassed them have their doings, Over-against My face they have been.

A day of our king! Princes have polluted themselves with the poison of wine, He hath drawn out his hand with scorners.

For they have drawn near, As an oven is their heart, In their lying in wait all the night sleep doth their baker, Morning! he is burning as a flaming fire.

All of them are warm as an oven, And they have devoured their judges, All their kings have fallen, There is none calling unto Me among them.

Devoured have strangers his power, And he hath not known, Also old age hath sprinkled itself on him, And he hath not known.

And humbled hath been the excellency of Israel to his face, And they have not turned back unto Jehovah their God, Nor have they sought Him for all this.

And Ephraim is as a simple dove without heart, Egypt they called on -- to Asshur they have gone.

Woe to them, for they wandered from Me, Destruction to them, for they transgressed against Me, And I -- I ransom them, and they have spoken lies against Me,

And have not cried unto Me with their heart, but howl on their beds, For corn and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn aside against Me.

They turn back -- not to the Most High, They have been as a deceitful bow, Fall by sword do their princes, From the insolence of their tongue, This is their derision in the land of Egypt!

Unto thy mouth -- a trumpet, As an eagle against the house of Jehovah, Because they transgressed My covenant, And against My law they have rebelled.

To Me they cry, 'My God, we -- Israel -- have known Thee.'

They have made kings, and not by Me, They have made princes, and I have not known, Their silver and their gold they have made to them idols, So that they are cut off.

Israel hath been swallowed up, Now they have been among nations, As a vessel in which is no delight.

For they -- they have gone up to Asshur, A wild ass alone by himself is Ephraim, They have hired lovers!

Because Ephraim did multiply altars to sin, They have been to him altars to sin.

I write for him numerous things of My law, As a strange thing they have been reckoned.

And forget doth Israel his Maker, and buildeth temples, And Judah hath multiplied cities of defence, And I have sent a fire into his cities, And it hath consumed their palaces!

For, lo, they have gone because of destruction, Egypt gathereth them, Moph burieth them, The desirable things of their silver, Nettles possess them -- a thorn is in their tents.

Come in have the days of inspection, Come in have the days of recompence, Israel doth know! a fool is the prophet, Mad is the man of the Spirit, Because of the abundance of thine iniquity, And great is the hatred.

They have gone deep -- have done corruptly, As in the days of Gibeah, He doth remember their iniquity, He doth inspect their sins.

As grapes in a wilderness I found Israel, As the first-fruit in a fig-tree, at its beginning, I have seen your fathers, They -- they have gone in to Baal-Peor, And are separated to a shameful thing, And are become abominable like their love.

For though they nourish their sons, I have made them childless -- without man, Surely also, woe to them, when I turn aside from them.

Ephraim! when I have looked to the rock, Is planted in comeliness, And Ephraim is to bring out unto a slayer his sons.

All their evil is in Gilgal, Surely there I have hated them, Because of the evil of their doings, Out of My house I do drive them, I add not to love them, all their heads are apostates.

Ephraim hath been smitten, Their root hath dried up, fruit they yield not, Yea, though they bring forth, I have put to death the desired of their womb.

Reject them doth my God, Because they have not hearkened to Him, And they are wanderers among nations!

An empty vine is Israel, Fruit he maketh like to himself, According to the abundance of his fruit, He hath multiplied for the altars, According to the goodness of his land, They have made goodly standing-pillars.

For now they say: We have no king, Because we have not feared Jehovah, And the king -- what doth he for us?

They have spoken words, To swear falsehood in making a covenant, And flourished as a poisonous herb hath judgment, on the furrows of a field.

And destroyed have been high places of Aven, the sin of Israel. Thorn and bramble go up on their altars, And they have said to hills, Cover us, And to heights, Fall upon us.

From the days of Gibeah thou hast sinned, O Israel, There they have stood, Not overtake them in Gibeah doth battle, Because of sons of perverseness.

When I desire, then I do bind them, And gathered against them have peoples, When they bind themselves to their two iniquities.

And Ephraim is a trained heifer -- loving to thresh, And I -- I have passed over on the goodness of its neck, I cause one to ride Ephraim, Plough doth Judah, harrow for him doth Jacob.

Ye have ploughed wickedness, Perversity ye have reaped, Ye have eaten the fruit of lying, For thou hast trusted in thy way, In the abundance of thy might.

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.

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.

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.

And Ephraim saith: 'Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself, All my labours -- they find not against me iniquity that is sin.'

And I have spoken unto the prophets, And I have multiplied vision, And by the hand of the prophets I use similes.

Surely Gilead is iniquity, Only, vanity they have been, In Gilead bullocks they have sacrificed, Also their altars are as heaps, on the furrows of a field.

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,