When I awould heal Israel,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the evil deeds of Samaria,
For they work bfalsehood;
The thief enters in;
cRaiders ransack outside,
2 And they do not say to their hearts
That I aremember all their evil.
Now their bdeeds are all around them;
They are before My face.
3 aWith their evil they make the bking glad,
And the princes with their cdeceptions.
4 They are aall 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 abecame sick with the heat of wine;
He stretched out his hand with bscoffers,
6 For their hearts are like an aoven
As they draw near in 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 devour their ajudges;
All their kings have fallen.
bNone of them calls on Me.
8 Ephraim amixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim has become a cake not turned.
9 aStrangers devour his power,
Yet he bdoes not know it;
Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him,
Yet he does not know it.
10 So the apride of Israel answers against him,
Yet bthey have not returned to Yahweh their God,
Nor have they sought Him, for all this.
11 So aEphraim has become like a silly dove, bwithout a heart of wisdom;
They call to cEgypt; they go to dAssyria.
12 When they go, I will aspread My net over them;
I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.
I will bchastise them in accordance with the report to their congregation.
13 aWoe to them, for they have bfled from Me!
Destruction is theirs, for they have transgressed against Me!
And I cwould redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.
14 And athey do not cry out to Me in their heart
When they wail on their beds;
For the sake of grain and new wine they bgather together as sojourners;
They cdepart from Me.
15 Although I disciplined and strengthened their arms,
Yet they adevise evil against Me.
16 They turn, but not upward;
They are like a adeceitful bow;
Their princes will fall by the sword
Because of the bindignation of their tongue.
This will be their cscoffing in the land of Egypt.