⁴ “They^(D) set up kings, but not by Me;
They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.
From their silver and gold
They made idols for themselves—
That they might be cut off.
⁵ Your ^[b]calf ^[c]is rejected, O Samaria!
My anger is aroused against them—
^(E)How long until they attain to innocence?
⁶ For from Israel is even this:
A ^(F)workman made it, and it is not God;
But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.

⁷ “They^(G) sow the wind,
And reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no bud;
It shall never produce meal.
If it should produce,
^(H)Aliens would swallow it up.
^8 (I)Israel is swallowed up;
Now they are among the Gentiles
^(J)Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.
⁹ For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like ^(K)a wild donkey alone by itself;
Ephraim ^(L)has hired lovers.
¹⁰ Yes, though they have hired among the nations,
Now ^(M)I will gather them;
And they shall ^[d]sorrow a little,
Because of the ^[e]burden of ^(N)the king of princes.

¹¹ “Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin,
They have become for him altars for sinning.
¹² I have written for him ^(O)the great things of My law,
But they were considered a strange thing.
¹³ For the sacrifices of My offerings ^(P)they sacrifice flesh and eat it,
^(Q)But the Lord does not accept them.
^(R)Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
They shall return to Egypt.

¹⁴ “For^(S) Israel has forgotten ^(T)his Maker,
And has built ^[f]temples;
Judah also has multiplied ^(U)fortified cities;
But ^(V)I will send fire upon his cities,
And it shall devour his ^[g]palaces.”

³ They shall not dwell in ^(C)the Lord’s land,
^(D)But Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
And ^(E)shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
⁴ They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord,
Nor ^(F)shall their ^(G)sacrifices be pleasing to Him.
It shall be like bread of mourners to them;
All who eat it shall be defiled.
For their bread shall be for their own life;
It shall not come into the house of the Lord.

⁵ What will you do in the appointed day,
And in the day of the feast of the Lord?
⁶ For indeed they are gone because of destruction.
Egypt shall gather them up;
Memphis shall bury them.
^(H)Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver;
Thorns shall be in their tents.

⁷ The ^(I)days of punishment have come;
The days of recompense have come.
Israel knows!
The prophet is a ^(J)fool,
^(K)The spiritual man is insane,
Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.
⁸ The ^(L)watchman of Ephraim is with my God;
But the prophet is a ^[a]fowler’s snare in all his ways—
Enmity in the house of his God.
^9 (M)They are deeply corrupted,
As in the days of ^(N)Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity;
He will punish their sins.

¹⁰ “I found Israel
Like grapes in the ^(O)wilderness;
I saw your fathers
As the ^(P)firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.
But they went to ^(Q)Baal Peor,
And ^[b]separated themselves to that shame;
^(R)They became an abomination like the thing they loved.
¹¹ As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird—
No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
¹² Though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them to the last man.
Yes, ^(S)woe to them when I depart from them!
¹³ Just ^(T)as I saw Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place,
So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.”

¹⁴ Give them, O Lord—
What will You give?
Give them ^(U)a miscarrying womb
And dry breasts!

¹⁵ “All their wickedness is in ^(V)Gilgal,
For there I hated them.
Because of the evil of their deeds
I will drive them from My house;
I will love them no more.
^(W)All their princes are rebellious.
¹⁶ Ephraim is ^(X)stricken,
Their root is dried up;
They shall bear no fruit.
Yes, were they to bear children,
I would kill the darlings of their womb.”

¹⁷ My God will ^(Y)cast them away,
Because they did not obey Him;
And they shall be ^(Z)wanderers among the nations.

³ For now they say,
“We have no king,
Because we did not fear the Lord.
And as for a king, what would he do for us?”
⁴ They have spoken words,
Swearing falsely in making a covenant.
Thus judgment springs up ^(D)like hemlock in the furrows of the field.

⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria fear
Because of the ^(E)calf^[b] of Beth Aven.
For its people mourn for it,
And ^[c]its priests shriek for it—
Because its ^(F)glory has departed from it.
⁶ The idol also shall be carried to Assyria
As a present for King ^(G)Jareb.
Ephraim shall receive shame,
And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

⁷ As for Samaria, her king is cut off
Like a twig on the water.
⁸ Also the ^(H)high places of ^[d]Aven, ^(I)the sin of Israel,
Shall be destroyed.
The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars;
^(J)They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹ “O Israel, you have sinned from the days of ^(K)Gibeah;
There they stood.
The ^(L)battle in Gibeah against the children of ^[e]iniquity
Did not ^[f]overtake them.
¹⁰ When it is My desire, I will chasten them.
^(M)Peoples shall be gathered against them
When I bind them ^[g]for their two transgressions.
¹¹ Ephraim is ^(N)a trained heifer
That loves to thresh grain;
But I harnessed her fair neck,
I will make Ephraim ^[h]pull a plow.
Judah shall plow;
Jacob shall break his clods.”

¹² Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
^(O)Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He ^(P)comes and rains righteousness on you.

^13 (Q)You have plowed wickedness;
You have reaped iniquity.
You have eaten the fruit of lies,
Because you trusted in your own way,
In the multitude of your mighty men.
¹⁴ Therefore tumult shall arise among your people,
And all your fortresses shall be plundered
As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle—
A mother dashed in pieces upon her children.
¹⁵ Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
Because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
Shall be cut off utterly.