1  ^qIsrael is a luxuriant vine

that yields its fruit.

The more his fruit increased,

^rthe more altars he built;

as his country improved,

he improved his pillars.

2  Their heart is false;

now they must bear their guilt.

The Lord¹ will break down their altars

and destroy their pillars.

3  For now they will say:

^s“We have no king,

for we do not fear the Lord;

and a king—what could he do for us?”

4  They utter ^tmere words;

with empty² oaths they make covenants;

so ^ujudgment springs up like poisonous weeds

^vin the furrows of the field.

5  The inhabitants of Samaria tremble

for ^wthe calf³ of ^xBeth-aven.

Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—

those who rejoiced over it and ^yover its glory—

for it has departed⁴ from them.

6  ^zThe thing itself shall be carried to Assyria

as tribute to ^athe great king.⁵

Ephraim shall be put to shame,

and Israel shall be ashamed ^bof his idol.⁶

7  ^cSamaria’s king shall perish

like a twig on the face of the waters.

8  The high places of ^xAven, ^dthe sin of Israel,

shall be destroyed.

^eThorn and thistle shall grow up

on their altars,

and ^fthey shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”

and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

9  From ^gthe days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;

there they have continued.

Shall not the war against the unjust⁷ overtake them in Gibeah?

10  ^hWhen I please, ⁱI will discipline them,

and nations shall be gathered against them

when they are bound up for ^jtheir double iniquity.

11  Ephraim was a trained calf

that ^kloved to thresh,

and I spared her fair neck;

but I will put ^lEphraim to the yoke;

^lJudah must plow;

Jacob must harrow for himself.

12  ^mSow for yourselves righteousness;

reap steadfast love;

ⁿbreak up your fallow ground,

for it is the time to seek the Lord,

that he may come and ^orain righteousness upon you.

13  ^pYou have plowed iniquity;

you have reaped injustice;

you have eaten the fruit of lies.

Because you have trusted in your own way

and in the multitude of your warriors,

14  therefore ^qthe tumult of war shall arise among your people,

and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,

as ^rShalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;

^smothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

15  Thus it shall be done to you, O ^tBethel,

because of your great evil.

At dawn ^athe king of Israel

shall be utterly cut off.

1  ^uWhen Israel was a child, ^vI loved him,

and out of Egypt I ^wcalled ^xmy son.

2  ^yThe more they were called,

the more they went away;

^zthey kept sacrificing to the Baals

and burning offerings to idols.

3  Yet it was ^aI who taught Ephraim to walk;

I took them up by their arms,

but they did not know that ^bI healed them.

4  ^cI led them with cords of kindness,¹

with the bands of love,

and ^dI became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,

and ^eI bent down to them and fed them.

5  ^fThey shall not² return to the land of Egypt,

but ^gAssyria shall be their king,

^hbecause ⁱthey have refused to return to me.

6  ^jThe sword shall rage against their cities,

consume the bars of their gates,

and devour them ^kbecause of their own counsels.

7  My people are bent ^lon turning away from me,

and though ^mthey call out to the Most High,

he shall not raise them up at all.

8  How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

ⁿHow can I make you ^olike Admah?

How can I treat you ^olike Zeboiim?

^pMy heart recoils within me;

my compassion grows warm and tender.

9  I will not execute my burning anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim;

^qfor I am God and not a man,

^rthe Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath.³

10  ^sThey shall go after the Lord;

^the will roar like a lion;

when he roars,

his children shall come trembling ^ufrom the west;

11  they shall come trembling like birds ^vfrom Egypt,

and ^wlike doves ^xfrom the land of Assyria,

and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.

12  ⁴ Ephraim ^yhas surrounded me with lies,

and the house of Israel with deceit,

but Judah still walks with God

and is faithful to the Holy One.

1  Ephraim feeds on the wind

and pursues ^zthe east wind all day long;

they multiply ^yfalsehood and violence;

^athey make a covenant with Assyria,

and ^boil is carried to Egypt.

2  ^cThe Lord has an indictment against Judah

and will punish Jacob according to his ways;

he will repay him according to his deeds.

3  ^dIn the womb he took his brother by the heel,

and in his manhood he strove with God.

4  He strove with the angel and prevailed;

he wept and sought his favor.

^eHe met God¹ at Bethel,

and there God spoke with us—

5  the Lord, the God of hosts,

^fthe Lord is his memorial name:

6  “So you, ^gby the help of your God, return,

^hhold fast to love and justice,

and wait continually for your God.”

7  A merchant, in whose hands are ⁱfalse balances,

he loves ^jto oppress.

8  Ephraim has said, “Ah, but ^kI am rich;

I have found wealth for myself;

in all my labors ^lthey cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”

9  ^mI am the Lord your God

from the land of Egypt;

I will again make you ⁿdwell in tents,

as in the days of the appointed feast.

10  ^oI spoke to the prophets;

it was I who multiplied ^pvisions,

and through the prophets gave parables.

11  ^qIf there is iniquity in Gilead,

they shall surely come to nothing:

^rin Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;

^stheir altars also are like stone heaps

^ton the furrows of the field.

12  ^uJacob fled to the land of Aram;

there Israel ^vserved for a wife,

and for a wife he guarded sheep.

13  By ^wa prophet ^xthe Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,

and by a prophet he was guarded.

14  ^yEphraim has given bitter provocation;

so his Lord ^zwill leave his bloodguilt on him

^aand will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

1  When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;

^bhe was exalted in Israel,

but he incurred guilt ^cthrough Baal and died.

2  And now they sin more and more,

and ^dmake for themselves metal images,

idols skillfully made of their silver,

^eall of them the work of craftsmen.

It is said of them,

“Those who offer human sacrifice ^fkiss calves!”

3  Therefore they shall be ^glike the morning mist

or ^glike the dew that goes early away,

^hlike the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor

or ⁱlike smoke from a window.

4  But ^jI am the Lord your God

from the land of Egypt;

^kyou know no God but me,

and ^lbesides me there is no savior.

5  ^mIt was I who knew you in the wilderness,

in the land of drought;

6  ⁿbut when they had grazed,¹ they became full,

^othey were filled, and their heart was lifted up;

^otherefore they forgot me.

7  So ^pI am to them like a lion;

^qlike a leopard I will lurk beside the way.

8  I will fall upon them ^rlike a bear robbed of her cubs;

I will tear open their breast,

and there I will devour them like a lion,

^sas a wild beast would rip them open.

9  He destroys² you, O Israel,

for you are against me, against ^tyour helper.

10  ^uWhere now is your king, to save you in all your cities?

Where are all your rulers—

those of whom ^vyou said,

“Give me a king and princes”?

11  ^wI gave you a king in my anger,

and ^xI took him away in my wrath.

12  The iniquity of Ephraim is ^ybound up;

his sin is ^ykept in store.

13  ^zThe pangs of childbirth come for him,

but he is an unwise son,

for at the right time he does not present himself

^aat the opening of the womb.

14  ^bI shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;

^bI shall redeem them from Death.³

^cO ^dDeath, where are your plagues?

^cO ^dSheol, where is your sting?

^eCompassion is hidden from my eyes.

15  Though ^fhe may flourish among his brothers,

^gthe east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,

rising from the wilderness,

^hand his fountain shall dry up;

his spring shall be parched;

it shall strip ⁱhis treasury

of every precious thing.

16  ⁴ Samaria ^jshall bear her guilt,

because ^kshe has rebelled against her God;

they shall fall by the sword;

^ltheir little ones shall be dashed in pieces,

and their ^mpregnant women ripped open.

1  ⁿReturn, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for ^oyou have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2  Take with you words

and return to the Lord;

say to him,

“Take away all iniquity;

accept ^pwhat is good,

and we will pay with bulls

^qthe vows¹ of our lips.

3  ^rAssyria shall not save us;

^swe will not ride on horses;

and ^twe will say no more, ‘Our God,’

to the work of our hands.

^uIn you the orphan finds mercy.”

4  I ^vwill heal their apostasy;

^wI will love them freely,

for my anger has turned from them.

5  ^xI will be like the dew to Israel;

^yhe shall blossom like the lily;

he shall take root like the trees ^zof Lebanon;

6  his shoots shall spread out;

his beauty shall be ^alike the olive,

and his fragrance like Lebanon.

7  They shall return and ^bdwell beneath my² shadow;

they shall flourish like the grain;

they shall blossom like the vine;

their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8  O ^cEphraim, what have I to do with idols?

It is I who answer and look after you.³

I am like an evergreen cypress;

^dfrom me comes your fruit.

9  ^eWhoever is wise, let him understand these things;

whoever is discerning, let him know them;

for the ways of the Lord are right,

and ^fthe upright walk in them,

^fbut transgressors stumble in them.