Despite this, the number of the people of Israel will be like ocean sand, which can neither be measured nor counted. And the time will come when instead of it being said, "You are not my people,' it will be said, "You are children of the living God.'

Otherwise, I'll strip her naked as she was on the day she was born make her like a wilderness, turn her into a parched land, and cause her to die of thirst.

So it will be: like people, like priest. I will punish them for their lifestyles, rewarding them according to their behavior.

For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn mule! Nevertheless, will not the LORD feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?

I know Ephraim, and Israel cannot hide from me, since you, Ephraim, have been acting like a prostitute, defiling Israel.

The princes of Judah have become like those who move boundary markers: I will pour out my anger on them like water.

Therefore I will consume Ephraim like a moth, and the house of Judah as rottenness consumes.

Therefore I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I even I will tear them to pieces, and then I will leave. I will take them away, and there will be no rescue.

Let us know, let us pursue knowledge of the LORD; his coming is as certain as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.

"What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? Your love is like a morning rain cloud it passes away like the morning dew.

Therefore I cut them to pieces by the prophets, killing them by the words from my mouth. The verdict against you shines like a beacon.

"But like Adam, they broke the covenant; in this they have acted deceitfully against me.

Like a gang of thieves that stalk a man, priests commit murder along the road to Shechem, committing shameful crimes.

All of them are adulterers they burn like an oven prepared by the baker, who has ceased stoking it until the dough is leavened.

For they have stirred up themselves like an oven as they lie in ambush. Their baker sleeps through the night; in the morning, the oven will be blazing like a fire.

They all burn like an oven; they have consumed their judges; all their kings have fallen not even one of them calls on me.

"Ephraim is also like a silly dove, lacking sense: They call out to Egypt, and turn toward Assyria.

They return but not to the Most High. They are like a defective weapon. Their princes will fall by the sword because of their raging tongue, and they will be a laughingstock in the land of Egypt."

"Sound the ram's horn! Like a vulture the enemy will come against the Temple of the LORD, because Israel violated my covenant, transgressing my Law.

Israel has been devoured; now they will live among the nations like a worthless container.

"Because they went over to Assyria, they are like a wild donkey alone by itself. Ephraim has hired some lovers.

"Don't celebrate, Israel, like other nations would rejoice, because you left your God by committing fornication, loving the profit you gained on all of the threshing floors.

They won't present wine offerings to the LORD, nor will they please him. Their sacrifices will seem like food for mourners everyone who eats them will become unclean; none of them will enter the Temple of the LORD.

"I found Israel, as one finds grapes in the wilderness; Your ancestors seemed to me like the fruit gleaned from a fig tree's first harvest. When they went to Baal-peor, they devoted themselves to that filth, and they became loathsome, like what they loved.

The glory of Ephraim will fly away like a bird no birth, no pregnancy, not even a conception.

Ephraim, as I see it, is like Tyre, planted in a comfortable place; Ephraim will bear children but they will be executed."

"Israel, the overgrown vine, bears fruit like itself; the more fruitful they become, the more altars they build. The better the land, the more ornate the stone idols.

Their word is falsely given as they make their agreements; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

Samaria's king will float away like driftwood on the surface of water.

I guided them with human kindness, with loving reins. I acted toward them like one who removes a yoke from their neck; I bent down and fed them.

"How can I give up on you, Ephraim? I will deliver you, will I not, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? I can't make you like Zeboim, can I? My heart stirs within me; my compassion also fans into flame!

They will go after the LORD, who will roar like a lion; and when he roars, the children will come trembling from the west.

Trembling like a bird, they will come out of Egypt, and as a dove from the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses," declares the LORD.

"There's iniquity in Gilead, isn't there? They have become truly vain. They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal; their altars are like piles of stone in furrowed fields.

Therefore they will be like morning clouds, like early morning dew that evaporates, like chaff blown away from the threshing floor, or like smoke from a chimney."

"So I will be like a lion to them. Like a leopard I will stalk them along the road.

I will confront them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their ribs. I will devour them like a lion the wild beasts will rip them apart.

I will be like the dew to Israel; Israel will blossom like a lily, growing roots like the cedars of Lebanon.

Israel's branches will spread out, and its beauty will be like an olive tree, with its scent like that of Lebanon.

Those who live under its protection will surely return. Their grain will flourish; they will blossom like a vine, and Israel's scent will be like wine from Lebanon.

"Ephraim, what have I in common with idols? I have listened and will pay attention to him. I am like a flourishing cypress; in me will your fruit be found."