10 Isra’el was a luxuriant vine,
freely putting forth fruit.
As his fruit increased,
he increased his altars;
as his land got better,
he improved his standing-stones.
² Their heart is divided;
now they will bear their guilt.
He will break down their altars
and destroy their standing-stones.
³ For now they will say,
“We have no king,
because we didn’t fear Adonai —
and what could a king do for us, anyway?”
⁴ They mouth words,
swearing falsely, making treaties.
Thus judgment spreads like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of a field.

⁵ The inhabitants of Shomron are frightened
of the calf-gods of Beit-Aven.
Its people mourn over it;
its priests tremble over it,
over its glory, which has left it.
⁶ It will be carried to Ashur
as a present for a warring king.
Efrayim will be put to shame,
and Isra’el be ashamed of his own advice.
⁷ Shomron’s king will perish
like foam on the surface of the water.
⁸ Destruction will come to the high places of Aven,
that is, to the sin of Isra’el.
Thorns and thistles will grow over their altars;
and they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹ “Since the days of Giv‘ah you have sinned, Isra’el.
There they took their stand.
For these arrogant people at Giv‘ah,
war was insufficient punishment.
¹⁰ When I wish to, I will discipline them;
and the peoples will be gathered against them
to discipline them for their two crimes.”

¹¹ Efrayim is a well-taught cow —
it loves to tread the grain,
and I have spared her fair neck.
But I will put Efrayim in harness,
Y’hudah will have to plow,
Ya‘akov will harrow his own land.
¹² If you sow righteousness for yourselves,
you will reap according to grace.
Break up unused ground for yourselves,
because it is time to seek Adonai,
till he comes and rains down
righteousness upon you.
¹³ You have plowed wickedness, reaped iniquity
and eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you trusted in your own way,
in your large numbers of warriors,
¹⁴ turmoil will erupt among your peoples,
and all your fortresses will be destroyed;
just as Shalman destroyed Beit-Arbel
on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to pieces
right along with their children.
¹⁵ Thus will be done to you, Beit-El,
because of your great wickedness;
at dawn the king of Isra’el
will be completely cut off.

11 “When Isra’el was a child, I loved him;
and out of Egypt I called my son.
² But the more [the prophets] called them,
the farther they went from them.
They sacrificed to the ba‘alim
and offered incense to idols.
³ “Yet it was I who taught Efrayim to walk;
I took them by their arms.
But they did not know that it was I
who was healing them,
⁴ who was guiding them on through human means
with reins made of love.
With them I was like someone removing
the yoke from their jaws,
and I bent down to feed them.
⁵ He will not return to the land of Egypt,
but Ashur will be his king,
because they refused to repent.
⁶ The sword will fall on his cities,
destroying the bars of his gates,
because they follow their own advice.
⁷ My people are hanging in suspense
about returning to me;
and though they call them upwards,
nobody makes a move.
⁸ Efrayim, how can I give you up,
or surrender you, Isra’el?
How could I treat you like Admah
or make you like Tzvoyim?
My heart recoils at the idea,
as compassion warms within me.
⁹ I will not give vent to the fierceness of my rage,
I will not return to destroy Efrayim;
for I am God, not a human being,
the Holy One among you;
so I will not come in fury.
¹⁰ They will go after Adonai,
who will roar like a lion;
for he will roar, and the children will come
trembling from the west.
¹¹ They will tremble like a bird as they come from Egypt,
like a dove as they come from the land of Ashur;
and I will resettle them in their own houses,

says Adonai.

12 ^(11:12) “Efrayim surrounds me with lies
and the house of Isra’el with deceit.
Y’hudah still rules with God
and is faithful with holy ones.
^2 (1) Efrayim is chasing the wind,
pursuing the wind from the east.
All day he piles up lies and desolation —
they make a covenant with Ashur,
while sending olive oil to Egypt.

^3 (2) Adonai also has a grievance against Y’hudah;
he will punish Ya‘akov according to his ways
and pay him back for his misdeeds.
^4 (3) In the womb he took his brother by the heel;
in the strength of his manhood he fought with God.
^5 (4) Yes, he fought with an angel and won;
he wept and pleaded with him.
Then at Beit-El he found him,
and there he would [later] speak with us —
^6 (5) Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot;
Adonai is his name!
^7 (6) So you, return to your God;
hold fast to grace and justice;
and always put your hope in your God.

^8 (7) “A huckster keeps false scales,
and he loves to cheat.
^9 (8) Efrayim says, ‘I have gotten so rich!
I have made me a fortune!
And in all my profits no one will find
anything wrong or sinful.’

^10 (9) “But I am Adonai your God,
from the land of Egypt.
Again I will make you live in tents,
as in the days of the established festival.
^11 (10) I have spoken to the prophets;
it was I who gave vision after vision;
through the prophets I gave examples
to show what it would all be like.
^12 (11) Is Gil‘ad given to iniquity?
Yes, they have become worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice to bulls;
therefore their altars are like piles of stones
in a plowed field.”

^13 (12) Ya‘akov fled to the land of Aram.
There Isra’el slaved to win a wife;
for a wife he tended sheep.
^14 (13) By a prophet Adonai brought Isra’el up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was protected.
^15 (14) Efrayim has given bitter provocation,
so the penalty for his bloodshed will be thrown down on him,
and his Lord will repay him for his insult.
13 “When Efrayim spoke, there was trembling;
he was a power in Isra’el.
But when he incurred guilt through Ba‘al,
he died.
² So now they keep adding sin to sin,
casting images from their silver;
idols they invent for themselves,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
‘Sacrifice to them,’ they say.
Men give kisses to calves!
³ Therefore they will be like a morning cloud,
like the dew that disappears early,
like chaff blown by wind from the threshing-floor,
or like smoke that goes out the window.
⁴ Still, I am Adonai your God,
from the land of Egypt;
and you don’t know any God but me
or, other than me, any Savior.
⁵ I knew you in the desert,
in a land of terrible drought.
⁶ When they were fed, they were satisfied;
when satisfied, they became proud.
Therefore they forgot me.
⁷ So now I have become like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk by the road;
⁸ I will meet them like a bear
whose cubs have been taken away.
I will tear their hearts from their bodies.
I will devour them there like a lion,
like a wild animal ripping them up.
⁹ It is your destruction, Isra’el,
although your help is in me.
¹⁰ So now, where is your king,
to save you in all your cities?
Where are your judges, of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and leaders’?
¹¹ I gave you a king in my anger;
and in my fury I took him away.

¹² “Efrayim’s guilt has been wrapped up,
his sin is stored away.
¹³ The pain of being born will come to him;
but he is an unwise son.
The time has come; and he shouldn’t delay,
there at the mouth of the womb.
¹⁴ Should I ransom them from the power of Sh’ol?
Should I redeem them from death?
Where are your plagues, death;
where is your destruction, Sh’ol?
My eyes are closed to compassion.
¹⁵ For though he flourishes among the reeds,
an east wind will come, a wind from Adonai,
blowing up from the desert.
Then his water source will dry up,
then his spring will fail —
it will plunder his treasury,
removing every precious thing.”

14 ^(13:16) Shomron will bear her guilt,
for she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword,
their little ones will be dashed to pieces
and their pregnant women ripped open.
^2 (1) Return, Isra’el, to Adonai your God,
for your guilt has made you stumble.
^3 (2) Take words with you, and return to Adonai;
say to him, “Forgive all guilt,
and accept what is good;
we will pay instead of bulls
[the offerings of] our lips.
^4 (3) Ashur will not save us,
we will not ride on horses,
and we will no longer call
what we made with our hands our gods.
For it is only in you
that the fatherless can find mercy.”

^5 (4) “I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them freely;
for my anger has turned from him.
^6 (5) I will be like dew to Isra’el;
he will blossom like a lily
and strike roots like the L’vanon.
^7 (6) His branches will spread out,
his beauty be like an olive tree
and his fragrance like the L’vanon.
^8 (7) Again they will live in his shade and raise grain;
they will blossom like a vine,
and its aroma will be
like the wine of the L’vanon.
^9 (8) Efrayim [will say], ‘What have I
to do any more with idols?’
And I, I answer and affirm him;
I am like a fresh, green cypress tree;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
^10 (9) Let the wise understand these things,
and let the discerning know them.
For the ways of Adonai are straight,
And the righteous walk in them,
but in them sinners stumble.

to the one who can keep you from falling
    and set you without defect and full of joy
    in the presence of his Sh’khinah —
²⁵ to God alone, our Deliverer,
    through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord —
be glory, majesty, power and authority
    before all time, now and forever.

Amen.

¹² If a ruler listens to lies,
    all his officials will be wicked.
¹³ The poor and the oppressor have this in common:
    Adonai gives light to the eyes of both.

¹⁴ If a king steadfastly gives justice to the poor,
    his throne will be secure forever.