1When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but when he became guilty in Baal worship, he died.
2Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images from their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of craftsmen. They say about them, 'They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.'
3Therefore, they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that disappears early, like chaff driven by the whirlwind from the threshing floor, and like smoke from a chimney.
4“Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you must acknowledge no god but me, and besides me there is no savior.”
5I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6As they were fed, so they were filled; they were filled, and their hearts became proud. Therefore, they have forgotten me.
7Therefore, I am like a lion to them. Like a leopard, I will lie in wait by the path.
8I will attack them like a bear whose cubs have been taken, and I will tear open their chest. There I will devour them like a lioness. A wild animal will tear them apart.
9You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your helper.
10Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And where are your judges, those you asked for, saying, ‘Give me a king and leaders?’
11I gave you a king when I was angry, and I took him away in my fury.
12Ephraim’s guilt is stored up. His sin is kept on record.
13He will suffer the pains of a woman in labor. He is an unwise son, for when the time comes, he is not ready to be born.
14I will rescue them from the power of the grave. I will free them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Grave, where is your destruction? I will not show them compassion.
15Even though he is fruitful among his brothers, a scorching east wind will come, a wind from Yahweh rising from the wilderness. His water spring will run dry, and his fountain will disappear. The wind will plunder his storehouse of treasures.
16Samaria will pay for her guilt, because she has turned against her God. They will die by the sword. Their babies will be smashed to pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.