⁴ “I won’t show my love to her children.
    They are the children of other men.
⁵ Their mother hasn’t been faithful to me.
    She who became pregnant with them
    has brought shame on herself.
She said, ‘I will chase after my lovers.
    They give me my food and water.
They provide me with wool and linen.
    They give me olive oil and wine.’
⁶ So I will block her path with bushes that have thorns.
    I’ll build a wall around her.
    Then she can’t go to her lovers.
⁷ She will still chase after her lovers.
    But she won’t catch them.
She’ll look for them.
    But she won’t find them.
Then she’ll say,
    ‘I’ll go back to my husband.
That’s where I was at first.
    I was better off then than I am now.’
⁸ She wouldn’t admit that I was the one
    who gave her everything she had.
    I provided her with grain, olive oil and fresh wine.
I gave her plenty of silver and gold.
    But she used it to make statues of Baal.

⁹ “So I will take away my grain when it gets ripe.
    I’ll take my fresh wine when it’s ready.
I’ll take back my wool and my linen.
    I gave them to her to cover her naked body.
¹⁰ So now I’ll uncover her body.
    All her lovers will see it.
    No one can stop me from punishing her.
¹¹ I will put a stop to the special times she celebrates.
    I’ll bring an end to the feasts she celebrates each year.
I’ll stop her New Moon feasts and her Sabbath days.
    I’ll bring all her appointed feasts to an end.
¹² I will destroy her vines and her fig trees.
    She said they were her pay from her lovers.
I’ll make them like clumps of bushes and weeds.
    Wild animals will eat them up.
¹³ Israel burned incense to the gods
    that were named Baal.
I will punish her
    for all the times she did that.
She decorated herself with rings and jewelry.
    Then she went after her lovers.
    But she forgot all about me,”
    declares the Lord.

¹⁴ “So now I am going to draw her back to me.
    I will lead her into the desert.
    There I will speak tenderly to her.
¹⁵ I will give her back her vineyards.
    I will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope for her.
Then she will love me, as she did when she was young.
    She will love me just as she did
    when she came up out of Egypt.

¹⁶ “A new day is coming,” announces the Lord.
    “Israel will call me ‘my husband.’
    She will no longer call me ‘my master.’
¹⁷ She will no longer speak about the gods
    that are named Baal.
    She will not pray to them for help anymore.
¹⁸ At that time I will make a covenant
    for the good of my people.
I will make it with the wild animals
    and the birds in the sky.
It will also be made with the creatures
    that move along the ground.
I will remove bows and swords
    and other weapons of war from the land.
    Then my people can lie down in safety.
¹⁹ I will make Israel my own.
    She will belong to me forever.
I will do to her what is right and fair.
    I will love her tenderly.
²⁰ I will be faithful to her.
    And she will recognize me as the Lord.

²¹ “So at that time I will answer her,”
    announces the Lord.
“I will command the skies
    to send rain on the earth.
²² Then the earth will produce grain, olive oil and fresh wine.
    And Israel will be called Jezreel.
    That’s because I will answer her prayers.
²³ I will plant her in the land for myself.
    I will show my love to the one I called Not My Loved One.
I will say, ‘You are my people’
    to those who were called Not My People.
    And they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”

⁴ “But you priests should not blame the people.
    You should not find fault with one another.
After all, your people
    could also bring charges against you.
⁵ You trip and fall day and night.
    And the prophets fall down along with you.
So I will destroy your nation.
    She is the one who gave birth to you.
⁶ My people are destroyed
    because they do not know me.

“You priests have refused to obey me.
    So I will refuse to accept you as my priests.
You have not paid any attention to my law.
    So I will not let your children be my priests.
⁷ The more priests there were,
    the more they sinned against me.
    They have traded their glorious God for that shameful god named Baal.
⁸ They live off the sins of my people.
    And they want them to keep on sinning.
⁹ So here is what I will do.
    I will punish people and priests alike.
I will judge them because of their sinful lives.
    I will pay them back
    for the evil things they have done.

¹⁰ “My people will eat.
    But they will not have enough.
They will have sex with prostitutes.
    But they will not have any children.
    That’s because they have deserted me.
They have sex ¹¹ with prostitutes.
    They drink old wine and fresh wine.
Their drinking has destroyed their ability to understand.
¹² My people ask a wooden statue of a god for advice.
    They get answers from a stick of wood.
They are as unfaithful as prostitutes.
    They are not faithful to their God.
¹³ They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops.
    They burn offerings on the hills.
They worship under oak, poplar and terebinth trees.
    The trees provide plenty of shade.
So your daughters become prostitutes.
    And your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

¹⁴ “I will not punish your daughters
    when they become prostitutes.
I will not judge your daughters-in-law
    when they commit adultery.
After all, the men themselves have sex with sinful women.
    They offer sacrifices where temple prostitutes earn their living.
    People who can’t understand will be destroyed!

¹⁵ “Israel, you are not faithful to me.
    But I do not want Judah to become guilty too.

“My people, do not go to Gilgal to offer sacrifices.
    Do not go up to Bethel to worship other gods.
When you make a promise, do not say,
    ‘You can be sure that the Lord is alive.’
¹⁶ The people of Israel are stubborn.
    They are as stubborn as a young cow.
So how can I take care of them
    like lambs in a meadow?
¹⁷ The people of Ephraim have joined themselves to other gods.
    And nothing can be done to help them.
¹⁸ They continue to be unfaithful to me
    even when their drinks are gone.
    And their rulers love to do shameful things.
¹⁹ A windstorm will blow all of them away.
    And their sacrifices will bring shame on them.

⁴ “They can’t return to me
    because they have done so many evil things.
In their hearts they long to act like prostitutes.
    They do not recognize me as the Lord.
⁵ Israel’s pride proves that they are guilty.
    The people of Ephraim trip and fall because they have sinned.
    Judah falls down along with them.
⁶ Israel will come to worship the Lord.
    They will bring their animals to offer as sacrifices.
But they will not find him.
    He has turned away from them.
⁷ They are not faithful to the Lord.
    Their children are not his.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,
    he will destroy their fields.

⁸ “My people, blow trumpets in Gibeah!
    Blow horns in Ramah!
Shout the battle cry in Bethel!
    Say to the people of Benjamin, ‘Lead on into battle!’
⁹ The people of Ephraim will be completely destroyed
    when it is time for me to punish them.
They can be sure it will happen.
    I am announcing it among their tribes.
¹⁰ Judah’s leaders have stolen some land.
    They have moved their borders farther north.
So I will pour out my anger on them
    like a flood of water.
¹¹ Ephraim will soon be crushed.
    The Assyrians will stomp all over them.
It will happen because they have made up their minds
    to chase after other gods.
¹² I will be like a moth to Ephraim.
    I will cause Judah to rot away.

¹³ “The people of Ephraim saw how sick they were.
    The people of Judah saw that they were wounded.
Then Ephraim turned to Assyria for help.
    They sent gifts to the great King Tiglath-Pileser.
But he is not able to make you well.
    He can’t heal your wounds.
¹⁴ I will be like a lion to Ephraim.
    I will attack Judah like a powerful lion.
I will tear them to pieces.
    I will drag them off.
Then I will leave them.
    No one will be able to save them.
¹⁵ I will go back to my lion’s den.
    I will stay there until they pay the price for their sin.
Then they will turn to me.
    They will suffer so much
    that they will really want me to help them.”

⁴ The Lord says, “Ephraim, what can I do with you?
    And what can I do with you, Judah?
Your love for me vanishes like the morning mist.
    It soon disappears like the early dew.
⁵ So I used the words of my prophets to cut you in pieces.
    I used my words to put you to death.
    Then my judgments blazed out like the sun.
⁶ I want mercy and not sacrifice.
    I want you to recognize me as God
    instead of bringing me burnt offerings.
⁷ Just as at the city of Adam, they disobeyed me,
    they have broken the covenant I made with them.
    They were not faithful to me there.
⁸ Ramoth Gilead is a city where sinful people live.
    It is stained with footprints of blood.
⁹ On the road to Shechem, groups of priests act like robbers.
    They hide and wait to attack people.
They murder them.
    So they carry out their evil plans.
¹⁰ I have seen a horrible thing in Israel.
The people of Ephraim are unfaithful to their own God.
    The people of Israel are ‘unclean.’

¹¹ “People of Judah, I have also appointed a time
    for you to be destroyed.

“I would like to bless my people
    with great success again.

7 I would like to heal Israel.
    But when I try to, Ephraim’s sins
    are brought out into the open.
The crimes of Samaria
    are made known to everyone.
The people tell lies.
    They break into houses and steal.
    They rob others in the streets.
² But they do not realize
    that I remember all the evil things they do.
Their sins pile up and cover them.
    I am always aware of their sins.

³ “Their evil conduct even makes the king glad.
    Their lies make the princes happy.
⁴ But all the people are unfaithful to the king.
    Their anger against him burns
    like the coals in an oven.
The baker does not even need to stir up the fire
    until the dough is ready.”

⁵ On special days to honor our king,
    the princes get drunk with wine.
And the king enjoys the party.
    He joins hands with those
    who pretend to be faithful to him.
⁶ Their hearts are as hot as an oven.
    They make evil plans to get rid of him.
Their anger burns like a slow fire all night.
    In the morning it blazes out like a flaming fire.
⁷ All of them are as hot as an oven.
    They destroy their rulers.
All their kings fall from power.
    But none of them calls on the Lord for help.

⁸ The people of Ephraim mix with the nations.
    They are like a thin loaf of bread
    that is baked on only one side.
⁹ People from other lands make them weaker and weaker.
    But they don’t realize it.
Their hair is becoming gray.
    But they don’t even notice it.
¹⁰ The pride of Israel proves that they are guilty.
    But in spite of everything,
they don’t return to the Lord their God.
    They don’t go to him for help.

“The people of Ephraim are like a dove.
    They are easily tricked.
    They do not have any sense at all.
First they call out to Egypt for help.
    Then they turn to Assyria.
¹² When they send for help,
    I will throw my net over them.
I will capture them like the birds in the sky.
    When I hear them gathering like birds,
    I will catch them.
¹³ How terrible it will be for them!
    They have wandered away from me.
So they will be destroyed.
    That’s because they have refused to obey me.
I long to save them.
    But they tell lies about me.
¹⁴ They do not cry out to me from their hearts.
    Instead, they just lie on their beds and sob.
They cut themselves when they pray to their gods
    for grain and fresh wine.
    But they turn away from me.
¹⁵ I brought them up and made them strong.
    But they make evil plans against me.
¹⁶ I am the Most High God. But they do not turn to me.
    They are like a bow that does not shoot straight.
Their leaders will be killed by swords.
    They will die because they have spoken too proudly.
The people of Egypt
    will make fun of them.”

“Put a trumpet to your lips!
    Give a warning to my people!
Assyria is like an eagle.
    It is ready to attack my land.
My people have broken the covenant I made with them.
    They have refused to obey my law.
² Israel shouts to me,
    ‘We recognize you as our God!’
³ But they have turned away from what is good.
    So an enemy will chase them.
⁴ My people appoint kings I do not want.
    They choose princes without my permission.
They use their silver and gold
    to make statues of gods.
    That is how they destroy themselves.”
⁵ The Lord says, “People of Samaria,
    throw out your god that looks like a calf!
    I am very angry with them.
How long will it be until they are able
    to remain faithful to me?
⁶ Their calf is not God.
    A skilled worker from Israel made it.
    But that calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.”

“Worshiping other gods is like worshiping the wind.
    It is like planting worthless seeds.
Assyria is like a windstorm.
    That is all my people will harvest.
There are no heads of grain
    on the stems that will come up.
    So they will not produce any flour.
Even if they did produce grain,
    the Assyrians would eat all of it up.
⁸ So the people of Israel are swallowed up.
    Now they are among the nations
    like something no one wants.
⁹ They have gone up to Assyria for help.
    They are like a wild donkey
    that wanders around by itself.
Ephraim’s people have sold themselves
    to their Assyrian lovers.
¹⁰ They have sold themselves to the nations
    to get their help.
    But now I will gather them together.
They will get weaker and weaker.
    The mighty kings of Assyria will crush them.

¹¹ “Ephraim built many altars where they sacrificed
    sin offerings to other gods.
So their altars have become
    places where they commit sin.
¹² In my law I wrote down many things for their good.
    But they considered those things as something strange.
¹³ They offer sacrifices as gifts to me.
    They eat the meat of the animals they bring.
    But the Lord is not pleased with any of this.
He will remember the evil things they have done.
    He will punish them for their sins.
    And they will return to Egypt.
¹⁴ Israel has forgotten the God who made them.
    They have built palaces for themselves.
    Judah has built forts in many towns.
But I will send down fire on their cities.
    It will burn up their forts.”

⁵ What will you do when your appointed feasts come?
    What will you do on the Lord’s special days?
⁶ Some of you will escape without being destroyed.
    But you will die in Egypt.
    Your bodies will be buried at Memphis.
Weeds will cover your treasures of silver.
    Thorns will grow up in your tents.
⁷ The time when God will punish you is coming.
    The day when he will judge you is near.
    I want Israel to know this.
You have committed many sins.
    And you hate me very much.
That’s why you think the prophet is foolish.
    You think the person the Lord speaks through is crazy.
⁸ People of Ephraim, the prophet, along with my God,
    is warning you of danger.
But you set traps for him everywhere he goes.
    You hate him so much
    you even wait for him in God’s house.
⁹ You have sunk very deep into sin,
    just as your people did at Gibeah long ago.
God will remember the evil things they have done.
    He will punish them for their sins.

“When I first found Israel,
    it was like finding grapes in the desert.
When I saw your people of long ago,
    it was like seeing the early fruit on a fig tree.
But then they went to Baal Peor.
    There they gave themselves to that shameful god named Baal.
    They became as evil as the god they loved.
¹¹ Ephraim’s greatness and glory will be gone.
    It will fly away like a bird.
Women will no longer have children.
    They will not be able to get pregnant.
¹² But suppose they do have children.
    Then I will kill every one of them.
How terrible it will be for them
    when I turn away from them!
¹³ Tyre is planted in a pleasant place.
    And so is Ephraim.
But the Assyrians will kill
    Ephraim’s children.”

¹⁴ Lord, what should you do to Ephraim’s people?
    Give them women whose babies die before they are born.
    Give them women whose breasts have no milk.

“My people did many evil things in Gilgal.
    That is why I hated them there.
They committed many sins.
    So I will drive them out of my land.
I will not love them anymore.
    All their leaders refuse to obey me.
¹⁶ Ephraim is like a worthless plant.
    Its roots are dried up.
    It does not produce any fruit.
Suppose Ephraim’s people have children.
    Then I will kill the children they love so much.”

¹⁷ My God will turn his back on his people.
    They have not obeyed him.
    So they will wander among other nations.

10 Israel was like a spreading vine.
    They produced fruit for themselves.
As they grew more fruit,
    they built more altars.
As their land became richer,
    they made more beautiful the sacred stones they worshiped.
² Their hearts are dishonest.
    So now they must pay for their sins.
The Lord will tear down their altars.
    He’ll destroy their sacred stones.

³ Then they’ll say, “We don’t have a king.
    That’s because we didn’t have
    any respect for the Lord.
But suppose we did have a king.
    What could he do for us?”
⁴ They make a lot of promises.
    They make agreements among themselves.
    They make promises they don’t mean to keep.
So court cases spring up
    like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
⁵ The people who live in Samaria are filled with fear.
    They are afraid for their god that looks like a calf.
    They’re afraid it will be carried off from Beth Aven, that evil town.
They will mourn over it.
    So will the priests who led them to worship it.
The priests were full of joy
    because their statue was so glorious.
But it will be captured
    and taken far away from them.
⁶ It will be carried off to Assyria.
    The people of Ephraim will be forced
    to give it to the great king.
They will be dishonored.
    Israel will be ashamed
    of its agreements with other nations.
⁷ Samaria’s king will be destroyed.
    He will be like a twig swept away by a river.
⁸ The high places where Israel worshiped other gods
    will be destroyed.
    That’s where they sinned against the Lord.
Thorns and weeds will grow up there.
    They will cover the altars.
Then the people will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
    They’ll say to the hills, “Fall on us!”

“Israel, you have done evil things
    ever since your people sinned at Gibeah long ago.
    And you are still doing what is evil.
War will come again
    to those who sinned at Gibeah.
¹⁰ I will punish them when I want to.
    Nations will gather together to fight against them.
They will put them in chains
    because they have committed so many sins.
¹¹ Ephraim was like a well-trained young cow.
    It loved to thresh grain.
So I will put a yoke
    on its pretty neck.
I will make Ephraim do hard work.
    Judah also must plow.
So all the people of Jacob
    must break up the ground.
¹² Your hearts are as hard as a field
    that has not been plowed.
If you change your ways,
    you will produce good crops.
So plant the seeds of doing what is right.
    Then you will harvest the fruit of your faithful love.
It is time to seek the Lord.
    When you do, he will come
    and shower his blessings on you.
¹³ But you have planted the seeds of doing what is wrong.
    So you have harvested the fruit of your evil conduct.
    You have had to eat the fruit of your lies.
You have trusted in your own strength.
    You have depended on your many soldiers.
¹⁴ But the roar of battle will come against you.
    All your forts will be completely destroyed.
It will happen just as Shalman
    destroyed Beth Arbel in a battle.
Mothers and their children
    were smashed on the ground.
¹⁵ People of Bethel, that will happen to you.
    You have committed far too many sins.
When the time comes for me to punish you,
    the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.”

“When Israel was a young nation, I loved them.
    I chose to bring my son out of Egypt.
² But the more I called out to Israel,
    the more they went away from me.
They brought sacrifices to the statues of the gods
    that were named Baal.
    And they burned incense to them.
³ I taught Ephraim to walk.
    I took them up in my arms.
But they did not realize
    I was the one who took care of them.
⁴ I led them with kindness and love.
I was to them like a person who lifts
    a little child to their cheek.
    I bent down and fed them.

⁵ “But they refuse to turn away from their sins.
    So they will return to Egypt.
    And Assyria will rule over them.
⁶ A sword will flash in their cities.
    It will destroy the prophets who teach lies.
    It will bring an end to their plans.
⁷ My people have made up their minds
    to turn away from me.
Even if they call me the Most High God,
    I will certainly not honor them.”

“People of Ephraim, how can I give you up?
    Israel, how can I hand you over to your enemies?
Can I destroy you as I did the town of Admah?
    Can I treat you like Zeboyim?
My heart is stirred inside me.
    It is filled with pity for you.
⁹ I will not be so angry with you anymore.
    I will not completely destroy you again.
After all, I am God.
    I am not a mere man.
I am the Holy One among you.
    I will not direct my anger against their cities.
¹⁰ I will roar like a lion against my enemies.
    Then the Lord’s people will follow him.
When he roars, his children will come home trembling with fear.
    They will return from the west.
¹¹ They will come from Egypt, trembling like sparrows.
    They will return from Assyria, flying in like doves.
I will settle you again in your homes,”
    announces the Lord.

12 The people of Ephraim look to others for help.
    It’s like chasing the wind.
The wind they keep chasing
    is hot and dry.
They tell more and more lies.
    They are always hurting others.
They make a peace treaty with Assyria.
    They send olive oil to Egypt to get help.
² The Lord is bringing charges against Judah.
    He will punish Jacob’s people
    because of how they act.
He’ll pay them back
    for the evil things they’ve done.
³ Even before Jacob was born,
    he was holding on to his brother’s heel.
When he became a man,
    he struggled with God.
⁴ At Peniel he struggled with the angel and won.
    Jacob wept and begged for his blessing.
God also met with him at Bethel.
    He talked with him there.
⁵ He is the Lord God who rules over all.
    His name is the Lord.
⁶ People of Jacob, you must return to your God.
    You must hold on to love and do what is fair.
    You must trust in your God always.

⁷ You are like a trader who uses dishonest scales.
    You love to cheat others.
⁸ People of Ephraim, you brag,
    “We are very rich.
    We’ve become wealthy.
And no one can prove we sinned
    to gain all this wealth.”

“I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt.
But I will make you live in tents again.
    That is what you did when you celebrated
    the Feast of Booths in the desert.
¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets.
    They saw many visions.
    I gave you warnings through them.”

¹¹ The people of Gilead are evil!
    They aren’t worth anything!
Gilgal’s people sacrifice bulls to other gods.
    Their altars will become like piles of stones
    on a plowed field.
¹² Jacob ran away to the country of Aram.
    There Israel served Laban to get a wife.
    He took care of sheep to pay for her.
¹³ The prophet Moses brought Israel up from Egypt.
    The Lord used him to take care of them.
¹⁴ But Ephraim’s people have made the Lord very angry.
    Their Lord will hold them accountable for the blood they’ve spilled.
    He’ll pay them back for the shameful things they’ve done.

“People of Israel, I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt.
You must not worship any god but me.
    You must not have any savior except me.
⁵ I took care of you in the desert.
    It was a land of burning heat.
⁶ I fed them until they were satisfied.
    Then they became proud.
    They forgot all about me.
⁷ So I will leap on them like a lion.
    I will hide and wait
    beside the road like a leopard.
⁸ I will attack them like a bear
    that is robbed of her cubs.
    I will rip them wide open.
Like a lion I will eat them up.
    Like a wild animal I will tear them apart.

⁹ “Israel, you will be destroyed.
    I helped you. But you turned against me.
¹⁰ Where is your king?
    Wasn’t he supposed to save you?
Where are the rulers in all your towns?
    You said, ‘Give us a king and princes.’
¹¹ So I became angry and gave you a king.
    Then I took him away from you.
¹² Ephraim’s guilt is piling up.
    I am keeping a record of all their sins.
¹³ They will suffer pain like a woman having a baby.
    They are like foolish children.
It is time for them to be born.
    But they don’t have the sense to come out of their mother’s body.

¹⁴ “I will set these people free from the power of the grave.
    I will save them from death.
Death, where are your plagues?
    Grave, where is your power to destroy?

“I will no longer pity Ephraim.
¹⁵     Even though they are doing well among the other tribes,
    trouble will come to them.
I will send a hot and dry wind from the east.
    It will blow in from the desert.
Their springs will not have any water.
    Their wells will dry up.
All their treasures
    will be taken out of their storerooms.
¹⁶ The people of Samaria must pay for their sins.
    They have refused to obey me.
They will be killed by swords.
    Their little children will be smashed on the ground.
    Their pregnant women will be ripped wide open.”

“My people always wander away from me.
    But I will put an end to that.
My anger has turned away from them.
    Now I will love them freely.
⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel.
    They will bloom like a lily.
They will send their roots down deep
    like a cedar tree in Lebanon.
⁶ They will spread out like new branches.
    They will be as beautiful as an olive tree.
    They will smell as sweet as the cedar trees in Lebanon.
⁷ Once again my people will live
    in the safety of my shade.
    They will grow like grain.
They will bloom like vines.
    And Israel will be as famous
    as wine from Lebanon.
⁸ Ephraim will have nothing more to do with other gods.
    I will answer the prayers of my people.
    I will take good care of them.
I will be like a healthy juniper tree to them.
    All the fruit they bear will come from me.”

⁹ If someone is wise, they will realize
    that what I’ve said is true.
If they have understanding,
    they will know what it means.
The ways of the Lord are right.
    People who are right with God live the way he wants them to.
    But those who refuse to obey him trip and fall.