13  Ephraim, ^has I have seen, was like a young palm¹ planted in a meadow;

but ^eEphraim must lead his children out to slaughter.²

14  Give them, O Lord—

what will you give?

Give them ⁱa miscarrying womb

and dry breasts.

15  Every evil of theirs is in ^jGilgal;

there I began to hate them.

Because of the wickedness of their deeds

I will drive them out of my house.

I will love them no more;

all ^ktheir princes are ^lrebels.

16  Ephraim is stricken;

^mtheir root is dried up;

they shall bear no fruit.

Even ⁿthough they give birth,

^eI will put their beloved children to death.

17  ^oMy God will reject them

because they have not listened to him;

^pthey shall be wanderers among the nations.

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 Lord³ 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 empty⁴ 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 calf⁵ 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 departed⁶ from them.

6  ^zThe thing itself shall be carried to Assyria

as tribute to ^athe great king.⁷

Ephraim shall be put to shame,

and Israel shall be ashamed ^bof his idol.⁸

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 unjust⁹ 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,¹⁰

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 not¹¹ 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.¹²

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  ¹³ 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 God¹⁴ 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,¹⁵ 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 destroys¹⁶ 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.¹⁷

^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  ¹⁸ 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 vows¹⁹ 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 my²⁰ 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.²¹

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.

2  Hear this, you elders;

give ear, all inhabitants of the land!

Has such a thing happened in your days,

or in the days of your fathers?

3  Tell your children of it,

and let your children tell their children,

and their children to another generation.

4  What the cutting locust left,

the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

the hopping locust has eaten,

and what the hopping locust left,

the destroying locust has eaten.

5  Awake, you drunkards, and weep,

and wail, all you drinkers of wine,

because of the sweet wine,

for it is cut off from your mouth.

6  For a nation has come up against my land,

powerful and beyond number;

its teeth are lions’ teeth,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.

7  It has laid waste my vine

and splintered my fig tree;

it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;

their branches are made white.

8  Lament like a virgin²² wearing sackcloth

for the bridegroom of her youth.

9  The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off

from the house of the Lord.

The priests mourn,

the ministers of the Lord.

10  The fields are destroyed,

the ground mourns,

because the grain is destroyed,

the wine dries up,

the oil languishes.

11  Be ashamed,²³ O tillers of the soil;

wail, O vinedressers,

for the wheat and the barley,

because the harvest of the field has perished.

12  The vine dries up;

the fig tree languishes.

Pomegranate, palm, and apple,

all the trees of the field are dried up,

and gladness dries up

from the children of man.

13  Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;

wail, O ministers of the altar.

Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,

O ministers of my God!

Because grain offering and drink offering

are withheld from the house of your God.

14  Consecrate a fast;

call a solemn assembly.

Gather the elders

and all the inhabitants of the land

to the house of the Lord your God,

and cry out to the Lord.

15  Alas for the day!

For the day of the Lord is near,

and as destruction from the Almighty²⁴ it comes.

16  Is not the food cut off

before our eyes,

joy and gladness

from the house of our God?

17  The seed shrivels under the clods;²⁵

the storehouses are desolate;

the granaries are torn down

because the grain has dried up.

18  How the beasts groan!

The herds of cattle are perplexed

because there is no pasture for them;

even the flocks of sheep suffer.²⁶

19  To you, O Lord, I call.

For fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness,

and flame has burned

all the trees of the field.

20  Even the beasts of the field pant for you

because the water brooks are dried up,

and fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness.

1  Blow a trumpet in Zion;

sound an alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,

2  a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains

a great and powerful people;

their like has never been before,

nor will be again after them

through the years of all generations.

3  Fire devours before them,

and behind them a flame burns.

The land is like the garden of Eden before them,

but behind them a desolate wilderness,

and nothing escapes them.

4  Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,

and like war horses they run.

5  As with the rumbling of chariots,

they leap on the tops of the mountains,

like the crackling of a flame of fire

devouring the stubble,

like a powerful army

drawn up for battle.

6  Before them peoples are in anguish;

all faces grow pale.

7  Like warriors they charge;

like soldiers they scale the wall.

They march each on his way;

they do not swerve from their paths.

8  They do not jostle one another;

each marches in his path;

they burst through the weapons

and are not halted.

9  They leap upon the city,

they run upon the walls,

they climb up into the houses,

they enter through the windows like a thief.

10  The earth quakes before them;

the heavens tremble.

The sun and the moon are darkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.

11  The Lord utters his voice

before his army,

for his camp is exceedingly great;

he who executes his word is powerful.

For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome;

who can endure it?

12  “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

“return to me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

13  and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

Return to the Lord your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

and he relents over disaster.

14  Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,

and leave a blessing behind him,

a grain offering and a drink offering

for the Lord your God?

15  Blow the trumpet in Zion;

consecrate a fast;

call a solemn assembly;

16  gather the people.

Consecrate the congregation;

assemble the elders;

gather the children,

even nursing infants.

Let the bridegroom leave his room,

and the bride her chamber.

17  Between the vestibule and the altar

let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep

and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,

and make not your heritage a reproach,

a byword among the nations.²⁷

Why should they say among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’”

18  Then the Lord became jealous for his land

and had pity on his people.

19  The Lord answered and said to his people,

“Behold, I am sending to you

grain, wine, and oil,

and you will be satisfied;

and I will no more make you

a reproach among the nations.

20  “I will remove the northerner far from you,

and drive him into a parched and desolate land,

his vanguard²⁸ into the eastern sea,

and his rear guard²⁹ into the western sea;

the stench and foul smell of him will rise,

for he has done great things.

21  “Fear not, O land;

be glad and rejoice,

for the Lord has done great things!

22  Fear not, you beasts of the field,

for the pastures of the wilderness are green;

the tree bears its fruit;

the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

23  “Be glad, O children of Zion,

and rejoice in the Lord your God,

for he has given the early rain for your vindication;

he has poured down for you abundant rain,

the early and the latter rain, as before.

24  “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;

the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

25  I will restore³⁰ to you the years

that the swarming locust has eaten,

the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,

my great army, which I sent among you.

26  “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

and praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has dealt wondrously with you.

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

27  You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,

and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

28  ³¹ “And it shall come to pass afterward,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

29  Even on the male and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.