¹⁶ Ephraim^(A) is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.^(B)
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay^(C) their cherished offspring.”

¹¹ Ephraim’s glory^(A) will fly away like a bird^(B)—
    no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.^(C)
12 Even if they rear children,
    I will bereave^(D) them of every one.
Woe^(E) to them
    when I turn away from them!^(F)
13 I have seen Ephraim,^(G) like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place.^(H)
But Ephraim will bring out
    their children to the slayer.”^(I)

²⁴ Therefore, as tongues of fire^(A) lick up straw^(B)
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay^(C)
    and their flowers blow away like dust;^(D)
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
    and spurned the word^(E) of the Holy One^(F) of Israel.

⁷ “They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.^(A)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.^(B)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.^(C)

¹¹ Ephraim is oppressed,
    trampled in judgment,
    intent on pursuing idols.^[a](A)

²⁴ No sooner are they planted,
    no sooner are they sown,
    no sooner do they take root^(A) in the ground,
than he blows^(B) on them and they wither,^(C)
    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.^(D)

¹⁶ His roots dry up below^(A)
    and his branches wither above.^(B)