Very soon they will say, “We have no king since we did not fear the Lord. But what can a king do for us anyway?”

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.

Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. ¹  Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings ²  in the future. ³ 

Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah! Sound the trumpet in Ramah! Sound the alarm in Beth Aven! ¹  Tremble in fear, ²  O Benjamin!

The inhabitants ¹  of Samaria will lament ²  over the calf idol ³  of Beth Aven. ⁴  Its people will mourn over it; its idolatrous priests will wail ⁵  over it, ⁶  because its splendor will be taken from them ⁷  into exile.

When Ephraim ¹  spoke, ²  there was terror; ³  he was exalted ⁴  in Israel, but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.

He will roar like a lion, and they will follow the Lord; when he roars, his children will come trembling ¹  from the west.

Otherwise, I will strip her naked, and expose her like she was when she was born. I will turn her land into a wilderness and make her country a parched land, so that I might kill ¹  her with thirst.