| 1 | Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased the more altars he built; as his country improved he improved his pillars. |
| 2 | Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars, and destroy their pillars. |
| 3 | For now they will say: "We have no king, for we fear not the LORD, and a king, what could he do for us?" |
| 4 | They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. |
| 5 | The inhabitants of Sama'ria tremble for the calf of Beth-a'ven. Its people shall mourn for it, and its idolatrous priests shall wail over it, over its glory which has departed from it. |
| 6 | Yea, the thing itself shall be carried to Assyria, as tribute to the great king. E'phraim shall be put to shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol. |
| 7 | Sama'ria's king shall perish, like a chip on the face of the waters. |
| 8 | The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us. |
| 9 | From the days of Gib'e-ah, you have sinned, O Israel; there they have continued. Shall not war overtake them in Gib'e-ah? |
| 10 | I will come against the wayward people to chastise them; and nations shall be gathered against them when they are chastised for their double iniquity. |
| 11 | E'phraim was a trained heifer that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put E'phraim to the yoke, Judah must plow, Jacob must harrow for himself. |
| 12 | Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain salvation upon you. |
| 13 | You have plowed iniquity, you have reaped injustice, you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your chariots and in the multitude of your warriors, |
| 14 | therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-ar'bel on the day of battle; mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. |
| 15 | Thus it shall be done to you, O house of Israel, because of your great wickedness. In the storm the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off. |
| 1 | When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. |
| 2 | The more I called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Ba'als, and burning incense to idols. |
| 3 | Yet it was I who taught E'phraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. |
| 4 | I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one, who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. |
| 5 | They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. |
| 6 | The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates, and devour them in their fortresses. |
| 7 | My people are bent on turning away from me; so they are appointed to the yoke, and none shall remove it. |
| 8 | How can I give you up, O E'phraim! How can I hand you over, O Israel! How can I make you like Admah! How can I treat you like Zeboi'im! My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender. |
| 9 | I will not execute my fierce anger, I will not again destroy E'phraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come to destroy. |
| 10 | They shall go after the LORD, he will roar like a lion; yea, he will roar, and his sons shall come trembling from the west; |
| 11 | they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria; and I will return them to their homes, says the LORD. |
| 12 | E'phraim has encompassed me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah is still known by God, and is faithful to the Holy One. |
| 1 | E'phraim herds the wind, and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a bargain with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt. |
| 2 | The LORD has an indictment against Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways, and requite him according to his deeds. |
| 3 | In 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. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with him -- |
| 5 | the LORD the God of hosts, the LORD is his name: |
| 6 | "So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God." |
| 7 | A trader, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress. |
| 8 | E'phraim has said, "Ah, but I am rich, I have gained wealth for myself": but all his riches can never offset the guilt he has incurred. |
| 9 | I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast. |
| 10 | I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables. |
| 11 | If there is iniquity in Gilead they shall surely come to nought; if in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, their altars also shall be like stone heaps on the furrows of the field. |
| 12 | (Jacob fled to the land of Aram, there Israel did service for a wife, and for a wife he herded sheep.) |
| 13 | By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. |
| 14 | E'phraim has given bitter provocation; so his LORD will leave his bloodguilt upon him, and will turn back upon him his reproaches. |
