The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or counted; and in the place where it is said to them, "You are not my people," it will be said to them, "Children of [the] living God."

Lest I strip her naked and expose her like the day when she was born; I will make her like the desert and turn her into parched land; I will kill her with thirst.

And Yahweh said to me again, "Go, love a woman {who has a lover} and [is] committing adultery, just like the love of Yahweh [for] the children of Israel, but they [are] turning to other gods and love raisin cakes."

And it will be like people, like priest; I will punish them [for] their ways, and I will requite them for their deeds.

Indeed, like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; Now Yahweh will feed them, like a lamb in broad pasture.

The princes of Judah have become like those who remove a landmark; on them I will pour out my wrath like water.

But I [am] like a maggot to Ephraim and like rottenness to the house of Judah.

Because I [will be] like a lion to Ephraim and like a fierce strong lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear and I will go; I will carry off, and there is no one who delivers.

Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising [is] sure like [the] dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like [the] spring rain that waters [the] earth.

What will I do with you, Ephraim? What will I do with you, Judah? Your love [is] like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early in the morning.

Therefore, I have hewn [them] by [the] prophets; I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth like the light.

But like Adam, they transgressed [the] covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.

Like bandits lying in wait, [so is] a band of priests; they murder [on the] road to Shechem; indeed, they commit a monstrous crime.

All of them commit adultery, like a burning oven whose baker has stopped from stirring the fire, and from kneading [the] dough until it is leavened.

Because they are kindled like an oven, their heart burns within them; all night their anger {smolders}, [in the] morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

Ephraim was like a dove, silly, {without sense}; they call [to] Egypt, they go [to] Assyria.

Just as they go, I will cast my net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the heavens; I will discipline them according to a report to their assembly.

They turn, not to the Most High, like a slack bow; their officials will fall by the sword because of the anger of their tongue. This [is] their scorn in the land of Egypt.

[Put] to your lips [the] trumpet like a vulture over the house of Yahweh, because they have {broken my covenant} and rebelled against my law.

Israel is swallowed up; now they are among the nations, like an object that no one desires.

Do not rejoice, Israel, do not exult like the nations! For you played the whore, departing from your God; you loved a harlot's wage on all the threshing floors of grain.

They will not pour [drink offerings of] wine to Yahweh, and their sacrifices will not please him. [They are] like mourners' bread for them; all those who eat it will be defiled. For their bread will be {for their hunger}; it will not come [to] the house of Yahweh.

The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come; Israel knows! The prophet [is] a fool, the man of the spirit [is] acting like a madman. Because of the greatness of your sin, [your] hostility [is] great.

Like the grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like early ripened fruit on the fig tree in the first season, I saw your ancestors. They themselves came [to] Baal Peor, and they consecrated themselves to shame. And they became detestable things, like {the thing they love}.

Ephraim's glory [is] like a bird; it will fly away-- no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.

Ephraim, as I see [it], [is] like a palm in a meadow; but Ephraim must bring out his children to the slayer.

They utter words of vain oaths [when] {making covenants}, and judgment blossoms like a poisonous plant on the furrows of the field.

Samaria will be destroyed; her king [is] like a chip on the surface of the water.

I drew them {with human ties}, with the bands of love. I was to them like one who lifted up a yoke on their jaws, [though] I bent down to them [and] let them eat.

How can I give you up, Ephraim? [How] can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? [How] can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is disturbed within me; {all} my compassions are aroused.

They will go after Yahweh; he roars like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from [the] sea.

They will tremble like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria; and I will let them return to their homes-- a declaration of Yahweh.

But I [am] Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, like the days of [the] appointed festival.

If [in] Gilead [there is] evil, surely they will come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, also their altars will be like stone heaps on furrows of [the] field.

Therefore, they will be like the morning cloud, and like [the] dew of early morning going [away], like chaff swirling from [the] threshing floor, or like smoke from a window.

And I will be like a lion to them; I lie in wait beside [the] way, like a leopard.

I will attack them like a bear robbed of her offspring, and I will tear open the covering of their heart; there I will devour them like a lion, like an animal of the field would mutilate them.

I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily plant, and he will strike his roots like the [trees of] Lebanon.

His new plant shoots will spread out; his splendor will be like the olive tree, and his scent like the [trees of] Lebanon.

{They will again dwell} in my shadow; they will grow grain and they will blossom like the plant vine; his fame [will be] like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim, {what have I to do} with idols? I myself have answered and looked after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; your fruit comes from me.