Otherwise, I will strip her naked
and expose her as she was on the day of her birth.
I will make her like a desert
and like a parched land,
and I will let her die of thirst.

She will pursue her lovers but not catch them;
she will seek them but not find them.
Then she will think,
“I will go back to my former husband,
for then it was better for me than now.”

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called My son.

It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them in My arms,
but they never knew that I healed them.

I led them with human cords,
with ropes of love.
To them I was like one
who eases the yoke from their jaws;
I bent down to give them food.

The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet,
and Israel was tended by a prophet.

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he incurred guilt through Baal and died.