<p class="poetry">So<n id="1" /> I will pounce on them like a lion;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">like a leopard I will lurk by the path.p>

At that time,<n id="1" /> I will destroy the military power<n id="2" /> of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">I will deal with the people and priests together:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will punish them both for their ways,p> <p class="poetry">and I will repay them for their deeds.p>

<p class="poetry">Ephraim will be ruined in the day of judgment!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">What I am declaring<n id="2" /> to the tribes of Israel will certainly take place!<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers.p> <p class="poetry">I will pour out my rage on them like a torrential flood!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">They do not realize<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">that I remember all of their wicked deeds.p> <p class="poetry">Their evil deeds have now surrounded them;p> <p class="poetry">their sinful deeds are always before me.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Ephraim has mixed itself like flour<n id="1" /> among the nations;p> <p class="poetry">Ephraim is like a ruined cake of bread that is scorched on one side.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Ephraim has been like a dove,p> <p class="poetry">easily deceived and lacking discernment.p> <p class="poetry">They called to Egypt for help;p> <p class="poetry">they turned to Assyria for protection.p>

<p class="poetry">Israel will be swallowed up among the nations;p> <p class="poetry">they will be like a worthless piece of pottery.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings,p> <p class="poetry">these have become altars for sinning!p>

<p class="poetry">My God will reject them,p> <p class="poetry">for they have not obeyed him;p> <p class="poetry">so they will be fugitives among the nations.p>

<p class="poetry">Therefore they will disappear like<n id="1" /> the morning mist,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">like early morning dew that evaporates,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like chaff that is blown away<n id="4" /> from a threshing floor,p> <p class="poetry">like smoke that disappears through an open window.p>

<p class="poetry">I will be like the dew to Israel;p> <p class="poetry">he will blossom like a lily,p> <p class="poetry">he will send down his roots like a cedar of<n id="1" /> Lebanon.p>

<p class="poetry">His young shoots will grow;p> <p class="poetry">his splendor will be like an olive tree,p> <p class="poetry">his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext"><v id="(2:1)" /><n id="1" /> However,<n id="2" /> in the future the number of the people<n id="3" /> of Israel will be like the sand of the sea which can be neither measured nor numbered. Although<n id="4" /> it was said to them, &#8220;You are not my people,&#8221; it will be said to them, &#8220;You are<n id="5" /> children<n id="6" /> of the living God!&#8221;

Then the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> said: &#8220;Name him &#8216;Not My People&#8217; (Lo-Ammi), because you<n id="2" /> are not my people and I am not your<n id="3" /> God.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;At that time,&#8221;<n id="1" /> declares the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;you will call,<n id="2" /> &#8216;My husband&#8217;;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">you will never again call me,<n id="4" /> &#8216;My master.&#8217;<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;At that time,<n id="1" /> I will willingly respond,&#8221;<n id="2" /> declares the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will respond to the sky,p> <p class="poetry">and the sky<n id="3" /> will respond to the ground;p>

Then I told her, &#8220;You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or have sexual intercourse with<n id="1" /> another man, and I also will wait for you.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">They turn to Baal;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they are like an unreliable bow.p> <p class="poetry">Their leaders will fall by the swordp> <p class="poetry">because their prayers to Baal<n id="2" /> have made me angry.p> <p class="poetry">So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt.<n id="3" />p>