Jacob fled to the country of Aram, then Israel worked ¹  to acquire a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her.

For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice; I delight ¹  in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings. ² 

I spoke to the prophets; I myself revealed many visions; ¹  I spoke in parables ²  through ³  the prophets.”

I will commit myself to you in faithfulness; then ¹  you will acknowledge ²  the Lord.” ³ 

His young shoots will grow; his splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

The royal advisers delight the king with their evil schemes, the princes make him glad with their lies.

Then I will return again to my lair until they have suffered their punishment. ¹  Then they will seek me; ²  in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

(12:1) ¹  Ephraim has surrounded me with lies; the house of Israel has surrounded me ²  with deceit. But Judah still roams about with ³  God; he remains faithful to the Holy One.

Then you will call ¹  your ²  brother, “My People” (Ammi)! You will call your sister, “Pity” (Ruhamah)!

A whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings; they will be brought to shame because of their idolatrous worship. ¹ 

When they were fed, ¹  they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; ²  as a result, they forgot me!

“At that time,” ¹  declares the Lord, “you will call, ²  ‘My husband’; ³  you will never again call me, ⁴  ‘My master.’ ⁵ 

For the Israelites ¹  must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

Foreigners are consuming what his strenuous labor produced, ¹  but he does not recognize it! His head is filled with gray hair, but he does not realize it!

I know Ephraim all too well; ¹  the evil of ²  Israel is not hidden from me. For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim; Israel has defiled itself. ³ 

Even now they persist in sin! ¹  They make metal images for themselves, idols that they skillfully fashion ²  from their own silver; all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen! There is a saying about them: ³  “Those who sacrifice ⁴  to the calf idol are calf kissers!” ⁵ 

Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! ¹  Listen closely, ²  O king! ³  For judgment is about to overtake you! ⁴  For you were like a trap ⁵  to Mizpah, ⁶  like a net ⁷  spread out to catch Tabor. ⁸ 

Even the calf idol ¹  will be carried to Assyria, as tribute for the great king. ²  Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be put to shame because ³  of its wooden idol. ⁴ 

I will be like a moth to Ephraim, like wood rot ¹  to the house of Judah.

In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled ¹  with God.