Online Bible

^aWhen Ephraim spoke, there was trembling and terror.He ^bexalted himself above the other tribes in Israel;But through the worship of ^cBaal he became guilty and died spiritually, and then came ruin, sealing Israel’s doom as a nation.2 And now they sin more and more,And make for themselves ^amolten images,Idols ^bskillfully made from their silver as it pleased them,All of them the ^cwork of the craftsmen.They say of these very works of their hands, “Let those who sacrifice kiss and show respect to the ^dcalves as if they were living gods!”3 Therefore they will be swiftly dissipated like the ^amorning cloudOr like dew which soon disappears,Like ^bchaff which swirls with the whirlwind from the threshing floor,And like ^csmoke from the chimney or through the window worthless and without substance—they will vanish.

4 Yet I have been the ^aLORD your GodSince the time you became a nation in the land of Egypt;And you were not to know ^bany god except Me,For there is no savior ^cbesides Me.5 I ^aknew and regarded you and cared for you in the wilderness,^bIn the land of drought.6 When they had their pasture, they became ^asatisfied,And being satisfied, their ^bheart became proud (self-centered) ;Therefore they ^cforgot Me.7 So I will be ^alike a lion to them;Like a ^bleopard I will watch and lie in wait ready to attack by the road to Assyria.8 I will encounter them ^alike a bear robbed of her cubs,And I will tear open their chests;There I will also ^bdevour them like a lioness,As a wild beast would tear them.

9 It is your destruction, O Israel,Because you are ^aagainst Me, and have rebelled against your ^bhelp.10 Where now is your ^akingThat he may save you when you are attacked in all your cities?And your ^bjudges of whom you asked,“Give me a king and princes”?11 I ^agave you a king in My anger,And I ^btook him away in My wrath as punishment.

12 The wickedness of Ephraim which is not yet completely punished is bound up as in a bag;His sin is ^astored up for judgment and destruction.13 The pains of ^achildbirth come on him;But he is not a ^bwise son,For it is not the time to ^cdelay his chance at a new birth as the womb opens but he ignores the opportunity to change.14 Shall I ^aransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead) ?Shall I redeem them from death?¹^bO death, where are your thorns?O Sheol, where is your sting?^cCompassion is hidden from My eyes because of their failure to repent. 1+@Cor 15:55

15 For though he ^aflourishes among the reeds (his fellow tribes) ,An ^beast wind (Assyria) will come,The breath of the LORD rising from the desert;And Ephraim’s spring will ^cbecome dryAnd his fountain will be dried up.Assyria will ^dplunder his treasury of every precious object.16 Samaria will be found ^aguilty and become desolate,Because she ^brebelled against her God;^cThey will fall by the ^dsword,Their infants will be ^edashed in pieces,And their pregnant ^fwomen will be ripped open.