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Relentless Judgement on Israel

13When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
   he was exalted in Israel;
   but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
² And now they keep on sinning
   and make a cast image for themselves,
idols of silver made according to their understanding,
   all of them the work of artisans.
‘Sacrifice to these’, they say.^*
   People are kissing calves!
³ Therefore they shall be like the morning mist
   or like the dew that goes away early,
like chaff that swirls from the threshing-floor
   or like smoke from a window.

⁴ Yet 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.
⁵ It was I who fed^* you in the wilderness,
   in the land of drought.
⁶ When I fed^* them, they were satisfied;
   they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
   therefore they forgot me.
⁷ So I will become like a lion to them,
   like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
⁸ I 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.

⁹ I will destroy you, O Israel;
   who can help you?^*
10 Where 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’?
¹¹ I gave you a king in my anger,
   and I took him away in my wrath.

¹² Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up;
   his sin is kept in store.
¹³ The 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.

¹⁴ Shall 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.

¹⁵ Although he may flourish among rushes,^*
   the east wind shall come, a blast from the Lord,
   rising from the wilderness;
and his fountain shall dry up,
   his spring shall be parched.
It shall strip his treasury
   of every precious thing.
^{16 *}Samaria shall bear her guilt,
   because she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword,
   their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
   and their pregnant women ripped open.

A Plea for Repentance

14Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
   for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
² Take words with you
   and return to the Lord;
say to him,
   ‘Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
   and we will offer
   the fruit^* of our lips.
³ Assyria shall not save us;
   we will not ride upon horses;
we will say no more, “Our God”,
   to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.’

Assurance of Forgiveness

⁴ I will heal their disloyalty;
   I will love them freely,
   for my anger has turned from them.
⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel;
   he shall blossom like the lily,
   he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.^*
6 His shoots shall spread out;
   his beauty shall be like the olive tree,
   and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
⁷ They shall again live beneath my^* shadow,
   they shall flourish as a garden;^*
they shall blossom like the vine,
   their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ O Ephraim, what have I^* to do with idols?
   It is I who answer and look after you.^*
I am like an evergreen cypress;
   your faithfulness^* comes from me.
⁹ Those who are wise understand these things;
   those who are discerning know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
   and the upright walk in them,
   but transgressors stumble in them.