They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice ¹  under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

How can I give you up, ¹  O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart! ²  All my tender compassions are aroused! ³ 

So I paid fifteen shekels of silver and about seven bushels of barley ¹  to purchase her.

When ¹  she had weaned ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) she conceived again and gave birth to another son.

Just as lion cubs are born predators, ¹  so Ephraim will bear his sons for slaughter.

Therefore, I will soon ¹  fence her in ²  with thorns; I will wall her in ³  so that ⁴  she cannot find her way. ⁵ 

Those who revolt are knee-deep in slaughter, ¹  but I will discipline them all. ² 

I spelled out my law for him in great detail, but they regard it as something totally unknown ¹  to them!

The businessmen love to cheat; ¹  they use dishonest scales. ² 

They will return in fear and trembling ¹  like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria, and I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord.

They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle. The wind of prostitution blows them astray; they commit spiritual adultery ¹  against their God.

Ephraim will be ruined in the day of judgment! ¹  What I am declaring ²  to the tribes of Israel will certainly take place! ³ 

Give them, O Lord – what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry, and breasts that cannot nurse! ¹ 

Ephraim continually feeds on the wind; he chases the east wind all day; he multiplies lies and violence. They make treaties ¹  with Assyria, and send olive oil as tribute ²  to Egypt.

They turn to Baal; ¹  they are like an unreliable bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because their prayers to Baal ²  have made me angry. So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt. ³ 

I will destroy her vines and fig trees, about which she said, “These are my wages for prostitution ¹  that my lovers gave to me!” I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees ²  into an uncultivated thicket, so that wild animals ³  will devour them.

The Lord said to me, “Go, show love to ¹  your wife ²  again, even though she loves ³  another man ⁴  and continually commits adultery. ⁵  Likewise, the Lord loves ⁶  the Israelites ⁷  although they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.” ⁸ 

Even if they raise their children, I will take away every last one of them. ¹  Woe to them! For I will turn away from them.

From there I will give back her vineyards to her, and turn the “Valley of Trouble” ¹  into an “Opportunity ²  for Hope.” There she will sing as she did when she was young, ³  when ⁴  she came up from the land of Egypt.

What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, O Judah? For ¹  your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; ²  it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew! ³