1 aWhen Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He bexalted himself in Israel, But through cBaal he did wrong and died. 2 And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves amolten images, Idols bskillfully made from their silver, All of them the cwork of craftsmen. They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the dcalves!" 3 Therefore they will be like the amorning cloud And like dew which soon disappears, Like bchaff which is blown away from the threshing floor And like csmoke from a chimney. 4 Yet I have been the aLord your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know bany god except Me, For there is no savior cbesides Me. 5 I acared for you in the wilderness, bIn the land of drought. 6 As they had their pasture, they became asatisfied, And being satisfied, their bheart became proud; Therefore they cforgot Me. 7 So I will be alike a lion to them; Like a bleopard I will lie in wait by the wayside. 8 I will encounter them alike a bear robbed of her cubs, And I will tear open their chests; There I will also bdevour them like a lioness, As a wild beast would tear them. 9 It is your destruction, O Israel, That you are aagainst Me, against your bhelp. 10 Where now is your aking That he may save you in all your cities, And your bjudges of whom you requested, "Give me a king and princes"? 11 I agave you a king in My anger And btook him away in My wrath. 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; His sin is astored up. 13 The pains of achildbirth come upon him; He is bnot a wise son, For it is not the time that he should cdelay at the opening of the womb. 14 Shall I aransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? bO Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? cCompassion will be hidden from My sight. 15 Though he aflourishes among the reeds, An beast wind will come, The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will cbecome dry And his spring will be dried up; It will dplunder his treasury of every precious article. 16 Samaria will be held aguilty, For she has brebelled against her God. cThey will fall by the dsword, Their little ones will be edashed in pieces, And their pregnant fwomen will be ripped open.