1 Ephraim’s Idolatry When Ephraim 13:1 Or spoke with trembling spoke,there wastrembling.He lifted himself up in Israel,But through Baal he became guilty and died.
2 And now they sin more and moreAnd make for themselves molten images,Idolsmadefrom their silver according to their understanding,All of them the work of craftsmen.They are saying of them, “Let the 13:2 Lit sacrificers of mankind men who sacrifice kiss the calves!”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning cloudAnd like dew which 13:3 Lit goes away early soon disappears,Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floorAnd like smoke from a 13:3 Lit window chimney.
4 ¶Yet Ihave beenYahweh your GodSince the land of Egypt;And you were not to know any god except Me,And there is no savior besides Me.
5 I Myself knew you in the wilderness,In the land of drought.
6 Asthey hadtheir pasture, then they became satisfied,Indeed, they were satisfied, and their heart became raised up;Therefore they forgot Me.
7 So I will be like a lion to them;Like a leopard I will 13:7Or watch lie in wait by the wayside.
8 I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs,And I will tear open 13:8Lit the enclosure of their heart the chestenclosingtheir heart;There I will also devour them like a lioness,Asa beast of the field would rip them open.
9 ¶It isyour ruin, O Israel, 13:9Or But in Me is your help Thatyou areagainst Me, against your help.
10 Where now is your king,That he may save you in all your cities,And your judges of whom you said,“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I gave you a king in My angerAnd took him away in My wrath.
12 ¶The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;His sin is stored up.
13 The pains of childbirth come upon him;He is not a wise son,For 13:13Lit it is the time that he should not tarry at the breaking forth of children it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I ransom them from the 13:14 Lit hand power of Sheol?Shall I redeem them from death?O Death, where are your thorns?O Sheol, where is your sting?Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
15 ¶Though he is fruitful among the 13:15Or brothers reeds,An east wind will come,The wind of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness;And his fountain will become dry,And his spring will be dried up;It will plunderhistreasury of every desirable article.
16 13:16Ch14:1in Heb Samaria will be held guilty,For she has rebelled against her God.They will fall by the sword;Their infants will be dashed in pieces,And their pregnant women will be ripped open.