For this cause I will put thorns in her road, building up a wall round her so that she may not go on her way.

And I will take you as my bride for ever; truly, I will take you as my bride in righteousness and in right judging, in love and in mercies.

My people at its staff asketh and its rod declareth to it, For a spirit of whoredoms hath caused to err, And they go a-whoring from under their God.

The princes of Judah are like those who move a boundary marker;
I will pour out My wrath on them like [an unrestrained flood of] water.

Ephraim is oppressed, and can have no right of the law. For why? They follow the doctrines of men.

Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim
And like dry rot to the house of Judah [in My judgment against them].

And as bands of robbers [lie in] wait for a man,
So a band of priests murder on the road toward Shechem [covering their crimes in that city of refuge];
Certainly they have committed crimes and outrages.

When I would heal Israel,
The sin (guilt) of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria,
Because they practice false dealing;
The thief enters,
Bandits ravage and raid outside.

But they never consider that I remember all their evil.
Now their sins are all around them;
they are right in front of My face.

I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law; but they are counted as a strange thing.

Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.

And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.

Sow with a view to righteousness [that righteousness, like seed, may germinate];
Reap in accordance with mercy and lovingkindness.
Break up your uncultivated ground,
For it is time to seek and search diligently for the Lord [and to long for His blessing]
Until He comes to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation on you.

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.

So then, come back to your God; keep mercy and right, and be waiting at all times on your God.

So I will be like a lion to them; as a cruel beast I will keep watch by the road;

I will fall upon them as a bear bereaved, and will read asunder the enclosure of their heart, - that I may devour them there, like a lioness, the wild beast of the field, shall tear them in pieces.

The pains of a woman in childbirth will come on him: he is an unwise son, for at this time it is not right for him to keep his place when children come to birth.

Even though he flourishes like a reed plant, a scorching east wind will come, a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. As a result, his spring will dry up; his well will become dry. That wind will spoil all his delightful foods in the containers in his storehouse.

Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

I will put right their errors; freely will my love be given to them, for my wrath is turned away from him.

I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like the lily
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.