Then look, there was {one in the form of a human}; he touched my lips and I opened my mouth and I spoke and I said to the [one] standing {before me}, "My lord, because of the vision my anxieties fell upon me and I [have] not retained [my] strength.

So {how am I, a servant of my lord} to speak with {you, my lord}, and I {just now} {have no strength in me}?"

And {he again touched} me, {the one in the form of a human}, and he strengthened me.

And he said, "You must not fear, beloved man. {Peace be to you}; be strong and be courageous!" And {when he spoke} with me, I was strengthened and I said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."

However, I will tell you {what is inscribed} in [the] book of truth, and there is not one [who] contends with me against these [beings] {except} Michael, your prince."

Now I myself heard, but I [did] not understand, and I said, "My lord, what [will be the] outcome [of] these [things]?"

And he said, "{Name him} Lo-ammi, for you [are] not my people and I am not your [God].

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."

Plead with your mother, plead-- because she [is] not my wife, and I [am] not her husband. Let her put away her whoring {from before her}, and her adultery from between her breasts.

Because their mother was unfaithful; she who conceived them has acted shamefully, for she said: "I will go after my lovers, the ones who give [me] my bread, my water, my wool, and my flax, my oil, and my drink."

Then she will pursue {her lovers}, but she will not overtake them; she will seek them and not find [them]; and she will say, "I will go and return to my first husband because [it was] better for me then than now."

Therefore I will take again my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; and I will take away my wool and my flax, [which were] to cover her nakedness.

And now I will uncover her nakedness before the eyes of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from my hand.

and I will lay waste to her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, "They [are] my payment for prostitution, which my lovers gave to me." I will make them a forest, and the wild animals of the field will devour them.

{I will punish her} [for] the days of the Baals, to whom she burns incense, and she decked herself [with] her ornamental ring and jewelry, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me --a declaration of Yahweh.

{And on that day}-- a declaration of Yahweh-- you will call me, "My husband;" you will no longer call me, "My Baal."

And I will take you as my wife forever; I will take you as a wife for myself in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.

{I will take you as my wife} in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh.

I will sow her for myself in the land; I will have pity on Lo-ruhama; I will say to Lo-ammi, "You are my people," and he himself will say, "[you are] my God."

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."

Yet, let no one contend, and let no one accuse, for with you, O priest, [is my] contention.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from acting as a priest for me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

When they became many, their sin increased against me; they changed their glory into shame.

{They feed on the sin of my people}, {they are greedy} for their iniquity.

My people, consult {their wooden idols}, and their divining rod gives them oracles; because a spirit of whoredom led [them] astray, and they played the whore from under their God.

I myself know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; because now you have played the whore, Ephraim-- Israel is defiled.

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

{I will return again} to my place until they acknowledge [their] guilt and seek my face; in their distress they will search me.

He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live in his presence.

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.

For you also, Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore the fortunes of my people,

{But they did not consider} that I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.

All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen; there is none who calls to me amongst them.

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.

Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I myself would redeem them, but they speak lies against me.

They do not cry out to me from their heart, but they wail on their beds; because of grain and new wine they lacerate themselves; they depart from me.

And I myself trained and strengthened their arms; but they plan evil against me.

[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.

They cry out to me, "My God! We, Israel, know you!"

They appointed kings, but not through me; they made officials, but without my knowledge. [With] their silver and gold they made idols for themselves for their own {destruction}.

Your calf is rejected, Samaria; my anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?

I write for him myriads of my instruction; they are regarded as a strange thing.

They offer sacrifices of my choice and they eat flesh; Yahweh does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they will return [to] Egypt.

The prophet keeps watch [over] Ephraim for my God; the snare of a fowler [is] on all his ways, and hostility in the house of his God.

Every evil of theirs [began] at Gilgal, so I [began] to hate them there; because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out from my house. I will love them no more; all their officials [are] rebels.

My God will reject them because they did not listen to him, and they will be wanderers among the nations.

In my desire I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them when they are punished for {their double iniquities}.

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

When I called them, they went from my face. They sacrificed to the Baals, and they sacrificed to idols.

And I myself taught Ephraim to walk; I took them in my arms, but they did not know that I healed them.

My people are bent on backsliding from me. To the Most High they call, he does not raise them at all.

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.

{I will not execute} {my fierce anger}, I will not again destroy Ephraim; because I [am] God and not a mortal, [the] Holy [One] in your midst; and I will not come in wrath.

Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; and Judah is still wandering with God and [is] faithful to the Holy One.

And Ephraim said, "Surely, I am rich, I gained wealth for myself; in all my toil they have not found guilt in me that is [sin].

I [am] Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt; you know no god except me, and no one saves besides me.

When I fed them, they were satisfied; they were satisfied and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.

Where now [is] your king that he may save you? [Where] in all your cities [are] your judges, of whom you said, "Give to me a king and rulers?"

I gave you a king in my anger, and I took [him] in my wrath.

Should I redeem them from {the power} of Sheol? Should I deliver them from death? Where [are] your plagues, Death? Where [is] your destruction, Sheol? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Although he may flourish among reeds, [the] east wind will come, a wind of Yahweh rising from [the] desert; his fountain will dry up, his spring will be parched. It will plunder his treasury, every object of desire.

I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely because my anger has turned back from them.

{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.

Because a nation has {invaded} my land, strong {and beyond counting}. Its teeth [are] the teeth of a lion, and its fangs [are those] of a lioness.

It has made my vine a desolation, and my fig tree a completely splintered stump. It has stripped them bare and thrown [them] down; their branches have turned white.

Gird yourselves and lament, O priests! Wail, ministers of [the] altar! Come spend the night in sackcloth, ministers of my God, because offering and libation are withheld from the house of your God.

Blow [the] trumpet in Zion, and sound the alarm on {my holy mountain}! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh [is] coming --[it is] indeed near.

"And even now," {declares} Yahweh, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and wailing."

And Yahweh answered and said to his people, "Look at me, [I am] sending to you grain, new wine, and olive oil, and you will be satisfied by it. I will not give you [over] any more as a disgrace among the nations.

I will repay you the years that the locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my mighty troops that I sent against you.

And you will eat abundantly and be satisfied, and praise the name of Yahweh your God, who has dealt with you {wondrously}. My people {will never be ashamed}.

And you will know that I [am] in the midst of Israel, and I [am] Yahweh, your God, and there is no [other]. My people {will never be ashamed again}.

And it will happen afterward thus: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your elders will dream dreams; your young men shall see visions.

And also on the male slaves and on the female slaves, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

I will gather all the nations, and I will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will argue {a case against them} there concerning my people and my inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations, and my land [that] they have divided.

For my people they cast lots, and {they traded} the male child for the prostitute, and the female child they sold for wine and they drank [it].

What [are] you to me, Tyre and Sidon, and all of the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying to me what is deserved? If you [are] recompensing me, I will return swiftly [and] quickly what you deserve on your head!

For you have taken my silver and my gold, and my beautiful treasures you have carried into your temples.

And you will know that I, Yahweh your God, [am] dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be [a place of] holiness, and strangers will pass through [it] no longer.

And I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod and the one who takes hold of the scepter of Ashkelon. I will also turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish," says the Lord Yahweh.

Those who trample the heads of the powerless into the dust of the ground and turn aside the way of the destitute, a man and his father {have sexual relations with} the same girl, so that [they] profane my holy name.

Surely my Lord does not do anything unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets.

A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? My Lord Yahweh has spoken, who will not prophesy?

Therefore, thus says my Lord Yahweh, "A foe shall surround the land and bring down your strongholds, and your citadel fortresses shall be plundered."

"Listen and testify against the house of Jacob," {declares} my Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts.

Hear this word, [you] cows of Bashan who [live] on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the powerless, who crush the poor, who say to their husbands, "Bring [something] so that we may drink!"

My Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that, "Behold, the days are coming upon you {when they} will take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishing hooks.

And bring a thank offering of unleavened bread, and proclaim freewill offerings, pronounce them, for so you love [to do], O {people} of Israel," [is] the declaration of my Lord Yahweh.

"And I in turn gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places. Yet you did not return to me," [is] the declaration of Yahweh.

So two [or] three cities wandered to one city to drink water and they were not satisfied, yet you did not return to me," [is] the declaration of Yahweh.

"I struck you with blight and with mildew. Frequently the cutting locust devoured your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees, yet you did not return to me," [is] the declaration of Yahweh.

"I sent among you a plague in the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with the captivity of your horses. And I made the stench of your camps go up into your nostrils, yet you did not return to me," [is] the declaration of Yahweh.

"I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a stick snatched from [the] fire, and yet you did not return to me," [is] the declaration of Yahweh.

For thus says my Lord Yahweh, "The city that marches out [with] a thousand will [only] have a hundred left. And the one that marches out [with] a hundred will [only] have ten left for the house of Israel."

For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel, "Seek me so that you may live."

Seek Yahweh so that you may live, so that he will not break out like a fire [against] the house of Joseph! And it will devour, {with none to quench} [it] for Bethel.

Seek good and not bad in order that you may live, and so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said.

Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, my Lord, "In all [of] the public squares [there will be] wailing, and in all [of] the streets [they will say], 'Alas, alas, alas!' They shall call [the] farmers to mourning and [to] wailing, to those who are skilled [in] lamentation.