For a present to King Contentious;
Ephraim shall receive shame,
And Israel shall be ashamed of his
own counsel.

'As for Samaria, her king is cut off,
As foam upon the water.
"The high places also of Aven shall
be destroyed,

Even the sin of Israel.

The thorn and the thistle shall come

up on their altars;

And they shall say to the mountains: 'Cover us',

And to the hills: 'Fall on us.'

"From the days of Gibeah thou hast sinned, O Israel; There they stood;

No battle was to overtake them in Gibeah,

Nor the children of arrogancy. 10When it is My desire, I will chastise them;

And the peoples shall be gathered against them,

When they are yoked to their two rings.

"And Ephraim is a heifer well broken, That loveth to thresh,

And I have passed over upon her fair neck;

I will make Ephraim to ride, Judah shall plow,

Jacob shall break his clods.
Sow to yourselves according to right-
eousness,

Reap according to mercy,
Break up your fallow ground;
For it is time to seek the LORD,
Till He come and cause righteous-
ness to rain upon you.
Ye have plowed wickedness, ye
have reaped iniquity,
Ye have eaten the fruit of lies;
For thou didst trust in thy way,
In the multitude of thy mighty

men.

And out of Egypt I called My son. "The more they called them, the more they went from them; They sacrificed unto the Baalim, And offered to graven images. And I, I taught Ephraim to walk, Taking them by their arms;

But they knew not that I healed them.

"I drew them with cords of a man, With bands of love;

And I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, And I fed them gently.

"He shall not return into the land of Egypt,

But the Assyrian shall be his king, Because they refused to return. "And the sword shall fall upon his eities,

And shall consume his bars, and devour them,

Because of their own counsels.

And My people are in suspense
about returning to Me;
And though they call them upwards,
None at all will lift himself up.

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?
How shall I surrender thee, Israel?
How shall I make thee as Admah?
How shall I set thee as Zeboim?

My heart is turned within Me, My compassions are kindled together.

I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger,

I will not return to destroy Ephraim; For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in the midst of thee, And I will not come in fury. 10They shall walk after the LORD, Who shall roar like a lion; For He shall roar,

And the children shall come trembling from the west.

"They shall come trembling as a bird out of Egypt,

And as a dove out of the land of Assyria;

And I will make them to dwell in their houses,

Saith the LORD.

12 Ephraim compasseth Me about with lies,

And the house of Israel with deceit;

And Judah is yet wayward towards God,

And towards the Holy One who is faithful.

"Ephraim striveth after wind, and

followeth after the east wind; All the day he multiplieth lies and desolation;

And they make a covenant with
Assyria,

And oil is carried into Egypt. "The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah,

And will punish Jacob according to

his ways,

According to his doings will He recompense him.

"In the womb he took his brother by the heel,

And by his strength he strove with a godlike being;

So he strove with an angel, and prevailed;

He wept, and made supplication unto him;

At Beth-el he would find him,
And there he would speak with us.
"But the LORD, the God of hosts,
The LORD is His name.

"Therefore turn thou to thy God;
Keep mercy and justice,

And wait for thy God continually.
As for the trafficker, the balances
of deceit are in his hand.
He loveth to oppress.

"And Ephraim said: 'Surely I am become rich,

I have found me wealth;

In all my labours they shall find in

me

No iniquity that were sin.' 10But I am the LORD thy God From the land of Egypt;

I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents,

As in the days of the appointed

season.

"I have also spoken unto the prophets,

And I have multiplied visions;

And by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes. 12If Gilead be given to iniquity

Becoming altogether vanity,
In Gilgal they sacrifice unto bul-
locks;

Yea, their altars shall be as heaps
In the furrows of the field.

13 And Jacob fled into the field of Aram,

And Israel served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep. 14And by a prophet the LORD brought

Israel up out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he kept. "Ephraim hath provoked most bitterly;

Therefore shall his blood be cast upon him,

And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

13 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling,

He exalted himself in Israel;
But when he became guilty through
Baal, he died.

"And now they sin more and more, And have made them molten images

of their silver,

According to their own understanding, even idols,

All of them the work of the craftsmen;

Of them they say:

"They that sacrifice men kiss calves.' Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud,

And as the dew that early passeth away,

As the chaff that is driven with the

wind out of the threshing-floor, And as the smoke out of the window.

"Yet I am the LORD thy God From the land of Egypt;

And thou knowest no God but Me,

And beside Me there is no saviour. "I did know thee in the wilderness, In the land of great drought. "When they were fed, they became full,

They were filled, and their heart was exalted;

Therefore have they forgotten Me. "Therefore am I become unto them as a lion;

And there will I devour them like a lioness,

The wild beast shall tear them.

"It is thy destruction, O Israel, That thou art against Me, against thy help.

10 Ho, now, thy king,

That he may save thee in all thy cities!

And thy judges, of whom thou saidst:

'Give me a king and princes!' "I give thee a king in Mine anger, And take him away in My wrath.

12The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;

His sin is laid up in store. 13The throes of a travailing woman shall come upon him;

He is an unwise son;

For it is time he should not tarry In the place of the breaking forth of children.

14Shall I ransom them from the power of the nether-world? Shall I redeem them from death? Ho, thy plagues, O death!

Ho, thy destruction, O nether-world! Repentance be hid from Mine eyes! 15For though he be fruitful among the reed-plants,

An east wind shall come, the wind

of the LORD coming up from the wilderness,

And his spring shall become dry,

and his fountain shall be dried up; He shall spoil the treasure of all precious vessels.

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.

Return, O Israel, unto the LORD thy God;

For thou hast stumbled in thine iniquity.

"Take with you words,

And return unto the LORD; Say unto Him: 'Forgive all iniquity, And accept that which is good; So will we render for bullocks the offering of our lips. 'Asshur shall not save us; We will not ride upon horses; Neither will we call any more the work of our hands our gods;

For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.'

"I will heal their backsliding,

I will love them freely;

For Mine anger is turned away from him.

'I will be as the dew unto Israel; He shall blossom as the lily,

And cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread,

And his beauty shall be as the olive tree,

And his fragrance as Lebanon. "They that dwell under his shadow shall again

Make corn to grow,

And shall blossom as the vine; The scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. 'Ephraim [shall say]:

'What have I to do any more with idols?'

As for Me, I respond and look on him;

I am like a leafy cypress-tree;
From Me is thy fruit found.

10Whoso is wise, let him understand these things,

Whoso is prudent, let him know them.

For the ways of the LORD are right,

And the just do walk in them; But transgressors do stumble therein.