<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">But you have plowed wickedness;p> <p class="poetry">you have reaped injustice;p> <p class="poetry">you have eaten the fruit of deception.p> <p class="poetry">Because you have depended on your chariots;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you have relied<n id="2" /> on your many warriors.p>

<p class="poetry">Yet it was I who led<n id="1" /> Ephraim,p> <p class="poetry">I took them by the arm;p> <p class="poetry">but they did not acknowledgep> <p class="poetry">that I had healed them.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will return to Egypt!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Assyria will rule over them<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because they refuse to repent!<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">He will roar like a lion,p> <p class="poetry">and they will follow the <sc>Lordsc>;p> <p class="poetry">when he roars,p> <p class="poetry">his children will come trembling<n id="1" /> from the west.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Return, O Israel, to the <sc>Lordsc> your God,p> <p class="poetry">for your sin has been your downfall!<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;I will heal their waywardness<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and love them freely,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">for my anger will turn<n id="3" /> away from them.p>

<p class="bodytext">She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> said to him, &#8220;Name her &#8216;No Pity&#8217; (Lo-Ruhamah) because I will no longer have pity<n id="2" /> on the nation<n id="3" /> of Israel. For<n id="4" /> I will certainly not forgive<n id="5" /> their guilt.<n id="6" />

<t /><p class="poetry">Hear the word of the <sc>Lordsc>, you Israelites!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> has a covenant lawsuit<n id="2" /> against the people of Israel.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land,p> <p class="poetry">nor do they acknowledge God.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Hear this, you priests!p> <p class="poetry">Pay attention, you Israelites!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Listen closely,<n id="2" /> O king!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For judgment is about to overtake you!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">For you were like a trap<n id="5" /> to Mizpah,<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">like a net<n id="7" /> spread out to catch Tabor.<n id="8" />p>

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>

Then the people<n id="1" /> of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader,<n id="2" /> and will flourish in the land.<n id="3" /> Certainly,<n id="4" /> the day of Jezreel will be great!

<t /><p class="poetry">Plead earnestly<n id="1" /> with your<n id="2" /> motherp> <p class="poetry">(for<n id="3" /> she is not my wife, and I am not her husband),p> <p class="poetry">so that<n id="4" /> she might put an end to her adulterous lifestyle,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and turn away from her sexually immoral behavior.<n id="6" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Yet<n id="1" /> until now<n id="2" /> she has refused to acknowledge<n id="3" /> that I<n id="4" /> was the onep> <p class="poetry">who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;p> <p class="poetry">and that it was I who<n id="5" /> lavished on her the silver and gold &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">which they<n id="6" /> used in worshiping Baal!<n id="7" />p>

For the Israelites<n id="1" /> must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

<p class="poetry">You have destroyed<n id="1" /> my peoplep> <p class="poetry">by failing to acknowledge me!p> <p class="poetry">Because you refuse to acknowledge me,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will reject you as my priests.p> <p class="poetry">Because you reject<n id="3" /> the law of your God,p> <p class="poetry">I will reject<n id="4" /> your descendants.p>

<p class="poetry">They consult their wooden idols,p> <p class="poetry">and their diviner&#8217;s staff answers with an oracle.p> <p class="poetry">The wind of prostitution blows them astray;p> <p class="poetry">they commit spiritual adultery<n id="1" /> against their God.p>

<p class="poetry">I know Ephraim all too well;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the evil of<n id="2" /> Israel is not hidden from me.p> <p class="poetry">For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim;p> <p class="poetry">Israel has defiled itself.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Their wicked deeds do not allow them to return to their God;p> <p class="poetry">because a spirit of idolatry<n id="1" /> controls their heart,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and they do not acknowledge the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">I will be like a lion to Ephraim,p> <p class="poetry">like a young lion to the house of Judah.p> <p class="poetry">I myself will tear them to pieces,p> <p class="poetry">then I will carry them off, and no one will be able to rescue them!p>