¹ When I would heal Israel,
The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the evil deeds of Samaria,
For they deal falsely;
The thief enters in,
Bandits raid outside, ² And they do not consider in their hearts
That I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds are all around them;
They are before My face. ³ With their wickedness they make the king glad,
And the princes with their lies. ⁴ They are all adulterers,
Like an oven heated by the baker
Who ceases to stir up the fire
From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. ⁵ On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
He stretched out his hand with scoffers, ⁶ For their hearts are like an oven
As they approach their plotting;
Their anger smolders all night,
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire. ⁷ All of them are hot like an oven,
And they consume their rulers;
All their kings have fallen.
None of them calls on Me. ⁸ Ephraim mixes himself with the nations;
Ephraim has become a cake not turned. ⁹ Strangers devour his strength,
Yet he does not know it;
Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him,
Yet he does not know it. ¹⁰ Though the pride of Israel testifies against him,
Yet they have not returned to the LORD their God,
Nor have they sought Him, for all this. ¹¹ So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without sense;
They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. ¹² When they go, I will spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.
I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly. ¹³ Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me!
Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!
I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me. ¹⁴ And they do not cry to Me from their heart
When they wail on their beds;
For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves,
They turn away from Me. ¹⁵ Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
Yet they devise evil against Me. ¹⁶ They turn, but not upward,
They are like a deceitful bow;
Their princes will fall by the sword
Because of the insolence of their tongue.
This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.