⁴Yet I have been the Lord your God
   ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
   and besides me there is no saviour.
⁵It was I who fed^* you in the wilderness,
   in the land of drought.
⁶When I fed^* them, they were satisfied;
   they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
   therefore they forgot me.
⁷So I will become like a lion to them,
   like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
⁸I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
   and will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
   as a wild animal would mangle them.

⁹I will destroy you, O Israel;
   who can help you?^*
10Where now is^* your king, that he may save you?
   Where in all your cities are your rulers,
of whom you said,
   ‘Give me a king and rulers’?
¹¹I gave you a king in my anger,
   and I took him away in my wrath.

¹²Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up;
   his sin is kept in store.
¹³The pangs of childbirth come for him,
   but he is an unwise son;
for at the proper time he does not present himself
   at the mouth of the womb.

¹⁴Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
   Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are^* your plagues?
   O Sheol, where is^* your destruction?
   Compassion is hidden from my eyes.