1. When Ephraim spoke, there was excitement;he was praised in Israel;but he became guilty through Baal and died.
2. And now they keep on sinning;they have made metal images,idols of silver,as a result of their skill,all of them the work of craftsmen."Sacrifice to these," they say.People are kissing calves!
3. Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,like the dew that passes away early,like husks that swirl from the threshing floor,or like smoke from a window.
4. Yet I have been the Lord your Godever since the land of Egypt;and you will know no other gods but me;there is no savior besides me.
5. I knew you in the wilderness,in the land of no rain.
6. When I fed them, they were satisfied;and their hearts became proud;therefore, they forgot me.
7. So I will become like a lion to them;like a leopard I will lurk beside the road.
8. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,and I will tear open the covering of their hearts.I will devour them like a lion,as a wild animal would eat them.
9. I will destroy you, Israel;for you didn’t realize that I could help you.
10. Where is your king now,so that he can save you?Where in all your cities are your judges,of whom you said,"Give me a king and rulers"?
11. I gave you a king in my anger,and I took him away in my wrath.
12. Ephraim’s wickedness is bound up;his sin is kept in store.
13. The pangs of a woman in childbirth come for him,but he is not aware of the time to be born;for at the proper time he doesn’t present himselfat the mouth of the womb.