13 When Ephraim spoke,(A) there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel.(B)
But he incurred guilt through Baal(C) and died.

Now they continue to sin
and make themselves a cast image,(D)
idols skillfully made from their silver,(E)
all of them the work of craftsmen.(F)
People say about them,
“Let the men who sacrifice[a] kiss the calves.”(G)
Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,(H)
like the early dew that vanishes,
like chaff blown from a threshing floor,(I)
or like smoke from a window.(J)

Death and Resurrection

I have been the Lord your God(K)
ever since[b] the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,(L)
and no Savior exists besides me.(M)
I knew[c] you in the wilderness,(N)
in the land of drought.
When they had pasture,
they became satisfied;(O)
they were satisfied,
and their hearts became proud.(P)
Therefore they forgot me.(Q)
So I will be like a lion(R) to them;
I will lurk like a leopard(S) on the path.
I will attack them
like a bear robbed of her cubs
and tear open the rib cage over their hearts.
I will devour them there like a lioness,(T)
like a wild beast that would rip them open.
I will destroy you, Israel;
you have no help but me.[d](U)

10 Where now is your king,[e](V)
that he may save you in all your cities,
and the[f] rulers[g](W) you demanded, saying,
“Give me a king and leaders”?
11 I give you a king in my anger(X)
and take away a king in my wrath.(Y)
12 Ephraim’s guilt is preserved;
his sin is stored up.(Z)
13 Labor pains come on him.(AA)
He is not a wise son;(AB)
when the time comes,
he will not be born.[h](AC)

14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.
I will redeem[i] them from death.(AD)
Death, where are your barbs?
Sheol, where is your sting?(AE)
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.(AF)

The Coming Judgment

15 Although he flourishes among his brothers,[j](AG)
an east wind will come,(AH)
a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert.
His water source will fail,
and his spring will run dry.(AI)
The wind[k] will plunder the treasury(AJ)
of every precious item.

16 Samaria(AK) will bear her guilt(AL)
because she has rebelled against her God.(AM)
They will fall by the sword;(AN)
their children will be dashed to pieces,(AO)
and their pregnant women ripped open.(AP)

Footnotes

  1. 13:2 Or “Those who make human sacrifices
  2. 13:4 DSS, LXX read God who brought you out of
  3. 13:5 LXX, Syr read fed
  4. 13:9 LXX reads At your destruction, Israel, who will help you?
  5. 13:10 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads I will be your king
  6. 13:10 Lit your
  7. 13:10 Or judges
  8. 13:13 Lit he will not present himself at the opening of the womb for sons
  9. 13:14 Or Should I ransom...? Should I redeem...?
  10. 13:15 Or among reeds
  11. 13:15 Probably the Assyrian king

13 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.

And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.

I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.

Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:

I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

10 I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?

11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.

12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.

13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.

14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.

16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.