1. “When Israel was a child, I loved him,and I called my son out of Egypt.
2. The more I called them, the farther they went away.They sacrificed to other gods—the Baals,and they burned incense to idols.
3. I was the one who taught the people of Ephraim to walk.I took them by the hand.But they didn’t realize that I had healed them.
4. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ropes of love.I removed the yokes from their necks.I bent down and fed them.
5. “They will not return to Egypt.Instead, Assyria will rule thembecause they have refused to return to me.