<t /><p class="poetry">I will destroy you,<n id="1" /> O Israel!p> <p class="poetry">Who<n id="2" /> is there to help you?p>

<p class="poetry">For their mother has committed adultery;p> <p class="poetry">she who conceived them has acted shamefully.p> <p class="poetry">For she said, &#8220;I will seek out<n id="1" /> my lovers;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">they are the ones who give me my bread and my water,p> <p class="poetry">my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Woe to them! For they have fled from me!p> <p class="poetry">Destruction to them! For they have rebelled against me!p> <p class="poetry">I want to deliver<n id="1" /> them,p> <p class="poetry">but they have lied to me.p>

<p class="poetry">That idol was made by a workman &#8211; it is not God!p> <p class="poetry">The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.p>

<p class="poetry">Even if they raise their children,p> <p class="poetry">I will take away every last one of them.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Woe to them!p> <p class="poetry">For I will turn away from them.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Very soon they will say, &#8220;We have no kingp> <p class="poetry">since we did not fear the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">But what can a king do for us anyway?&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">The inhabitants<n id="1" /> of Samaria will lament<n id="2" /> over the calf idol<n id="3" /> of Beth Aven.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Its people will mourn over it;p> <p class="poetry">its idolatrous priests will wail<n id="5" /> over it,<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">because its splendor will be taken from them<n id="7" /> into exile.p>

<p class="poetry">For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice;p> <p class="poetry">I delight<n id="1" /> in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">When Israel was a young man, I loved him like a son,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and I summoned my son<n id="2" /> out of Egypt.p>

<p class="poetry">I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution,p> <p class="poetry">nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery.p> <p class="poetry">For the men consort with harlots,p> <p class="poetry">they sacrifice with temple prostitutes.p> <p class="poetry">It is true:<n id="1" /> &#8220;A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">I will have no pity on her children,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">because they are children conceived in adultery.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will eat, but not be satisfied;p> <p class="poetry">they will engage in prostitution, but not increase in numbers;p> <p class="poetry">because they have abandoned the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">by pursuing other gods.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Israel has rebelled<n id="1" /> like a stubborn heifer!p> <p class="poetry">Soon<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> will put them out to pasturep> <p class="poetry">like a lamb in a broad field!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They have committed treason<n id="1" /> against the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">because they bore illegitimate children.p> <p class="poetry">Soon<n id="2" /> the new moon festival will devour them and their fields.p>

<p class="poetry">Ephraim will be oppressed,<n id="1" /> crushed<n id="2" /> under judgment,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">because he was determined to pursue worthless idols.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Come on! Let&#8217;s return to the <sc>Lordsc>!p> <p class="poetry">He himself has torn us to pieces,p> <p class="poetry">but he will heal us!p> <p class="poetry">He has injured<n id="1" /> us,p> <p class="poetry">but he will bandage our wounds!p>

<p class="poetry">The company of priests is like a gang of robbers,p> <p class="poetry">lying in ambush to pounce on a victim.p> <p class="poetry">They commit murder on the road to Shechem;p> <p class="poetry">they have done heinous crimes!p>

<t /><p class="poetry">They have gone up to Assyria,p> <p class="poetry">like a wild donkey that wanders off.p> <p class="poetry">Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Even though they have hired lovers among the nations,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will soon gather them together for judgment.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Then<n id="3" /> they will begin to waste awayp> <p class="poetry">under the oppression of a mighty king.<n id="4" />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>