7:1 whenever I want to heal Israel,
the sin of Ephraim is revealed,
and the evil deeds of Samaria are exposed.
For they do what is wrong;
thieves break into houses,
and gangs rob people out in the streets.
7:8 Ephraim has mixed itself like flour 1 among the nations;
Ephraim is like a ruined cake of bread that is scorched on one side. 2
1 tn The words “like flour” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied by the imagery.
2 tn Heb “a cake of bread not turned.” This metaphor compares Ephraim to a ruined cake of bread that was not turned over in time to avoid being scorched and burned (see BDB 728 s.v. עֻגָה). Cf. NLT “as worthless as a half-baked cake.”