7 when I would heal Israel,
the corruption of Ephraim is revealed,
and the wicked deeds of Samaria,
for they deal falsely;
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid outside.(A)
2 But they do not consider
that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds surround them;
they are before my face.(B)
3 By their wickedness they make the king glad,
and the officials by their treachery.
4 They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven
whose baker does not need to stir the fire
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.(C)
5 On the day of our king the officials
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.(D)
6 For they are kindled[a] like an oven; their heart burns within them;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
none of them calls upon me.(E)
8 Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 Foreigners devour his strength,
but he does not know it;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
but he does not know it.(F)
10 Israel’s pride testifies against[b] him;
yet they do not return to the Lord their God
or seek him, for all this.(G)
Futile Reliance on the Nations
11 Ephraim has become like a dove,
silly and without sense;
they call upon Egypt, they go to Assyria.(H)
12 As they go, I will cast my net over them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will discipline them according to the report made to their assembly.[c](I)
13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.(J)
14 They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
they gash themselves for grain and wine;
they rebel against me.(K)
15 It was I who trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they plot evil against me.(L)
16 They turn to that which does not profit;[d]
they have become like a defective bow;
their officials shall fall by the sword
because of the rage of their tongue.
So much for their babbling in the land of Egypt.(M)
Footnotes
- 7.6Gk Syr: Heb brought near
- 7.10Or humbles
- 7.12Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 7.16Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
Cross references
- 7.1 : v 13; Hos 4.2; 6.4, 9; 11.8
- 7.2 : Jer 2.19; Hos 4.9; 8.13; 9.9; Am 8.7
- 7.4 : Jer 9.2; 23.10
- 7.5 : Isa 28.1, 7, 8
- 7.7 : v 16; Ps 21.9; Isa 64.7
- 7.9 : Isa 1.7; Hos 4.6
- 7.10 : vv 7, 14; Hos 5.4, 5
- 7.11 : v 16; Hos 4.6, 11, 14; 5.13; 8.9; 11.11; 12.1
- 7.12 : Ezek 12.13
- 7.13 : v 1; Jer 14.10; Ezek 34.6; Hos 9.12, 17; Mt 23.37
- 7.14 : Jer 3.10; Hos 13.16; Am 2.8; Mic 2.11
- 7.15 : Nah 1.9
- 7.16 : v 7; Ps 78.57; Ezek 23.32