⁷ “They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.^(M)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.^(N)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.^(O)
8 Israel is swallowed up;^(P)
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.^(Q)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria^(R)
    like a wild donkey^(S) wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.^(T)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.^(U)
They will begin to waste away^(V)
    under the oppression of the mighty king.

¹¹ “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
    these have become altars for sinning.^(W)
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
    but they regarded them as something foreign.^(X)
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
    and though they eat^(Y) the meat,
    the Lord is not pleased with them.^(Z)
Now he will remember^(AA) their wickedness
    and punish their sins:^(AB)
    They will return to Egypt.^(AC)
14 Israel has forgotten^(AD) their Maker^(AE)
    and built palaces;
    Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
    that will consume their fortresses.”^(AF)

⁵ What will you do^(M) on the day of your appointed festivals,^(N)
    on the feast days of the Lord?
⁶ Even if they escape from destruction,
    Egypt will gather them,^(O)
    and Memphis^(P) will bury them.^(Q)
Their treasures of silver^(R) will be taken over by briers,
    and thorns^(S) will overrun their tents.
⁷ The days of punishment^(T) are coming,
    the days of reckoning^(U) are at hand.
    Let Israel know this.
Because your sins^(V) are so many
    and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,^(W)
    the inspired person a maniac.^(X)
8 The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,^[a]
yet snares^(Y) await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.^(Z)
9 They have sunk deep into corruption,^(AA)
    as in the days of Gibeah.^(AB)
God will remember^(AC) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.^(AD)

¹⁰ “When I found Israel,
    it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
    it was like seeing the early fruit^(AE) on the fig^(AF) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,^(AG)
    they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol^(AH)
    and became as vile as the thing they loved.
¹¹ Ephraim’s glory^(AI) will fly away like a bird^(AJ)—
    no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.^(AK)
12 Even if they rear children,
    I will bereave^(AL) them of every one.
Woe^(AM) to them
    when I turn away from them!^(AN)
13 I have seen Ephraim,^(AO) like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place.^(AP)
But Ephraim will bring out
    their children to the slayer.”^(AQ)

¹⁴ Give them, Lord—
    what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
    and breasts that are dry.^(AR)

¹⁵ “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,^(AS)
    I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,^(AT)
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;^(AU)
    all their leaders are rebellious.^(AV)
16 Ephraim^(AW) is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.^(AX)
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay^(AY) their cherished offspring.”

¹⁷ My God will reject^(AZ) them
    because they have not obeyed^(BA) him;
    they will be wanderers among the nations.^(BB)

10 Israel was a spreading vine;^(A)
    he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
    he built more altars;^(B)
as his land prospered,^(C)
    he adorned his sacred stones.^(D)
2 Their heart is deceitful,^(E)
    and now they must bear their guilt.^(F)
The Lord will demolish their altars^(G)
    and destroy their sacred stones.^(H)

³ Then they will say, “We have no king
    because we did not revere the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
    what could he do for us?”
⁴ They make many promises,
    take false oaths^(I)
    and make agreements;^(J)
therefore lawsuits spring up
    like poisonous weeds^(K) in a plowed field.
⁵ The people who live in Samaria fear
    for the calf-idol^(L) of Beth Aven.^[a](M)
Its people will mourn over it,
    and so will its idolatrous priests,^(N)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
    because it is taken from them into exile.^(O)
6 It will be carried to Assyria^(P)
    as tribute^(Q) for the great king.^(R)
Ephraim will be disgraced;^(S)
    Israel will be ashamed^(T) of its foreign alliances.
⁷ Samaria’s king will be destroyed,^(U)
    swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
⁸ The high places^(V) of wickedness^[b](W) will be destroyed—
    it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns^(X) and thistles will grow up
    and cover their altars.^(Y)
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”^(Z)
    and to the hills, “Fall on us!”^(AA)

⁹ “Since the days of Gibeah,^(AB) you have sinned,^(AC) Israel,
    and there you have remained.^[c]
Will not war again overtake
    the evildoers in Gibeah?
¹⁰ When I please, I will punish^(AD) them;
    nations will be gathered against them
    to put them in bonds for their double sin.
¹¹ Ephraim is a trained heifer
    that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke^(AE)
    on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
    Judah must plow,
    and Jacob must break up the ground.
¹² Sow^(AF) righteousness^(AG) for yourselves,
    reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;^(AH)
    for it is time to seek^(AI) the Lord,
until he comes
    and showers his righteousness^(AJ) on you.
¹³ But you have planted wickedness,
    you have reaped evil,^(AK)
    you have eaten the fruit of deception.^(AL)
Because you have depended on your own strength
    and on your many warriors,^(AM)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
    so that all your fortresses will be devastated^(AN)—
as Shalman^(AO) devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
    when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.^(AP)
15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,
    because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
    the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.^(AQ)