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Ephraim's Idolatry

^1 (C1)When Ephraim ^(F1)spoke, there was trembling.
He ^(C2)exalted himself in Israel,
But through ^(C3)Baal he incurred guilt and died.

² And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves ^(C1)cast metal images,
Idols ^(F1)(C2)skillfully made from their silver,
All of them the ^(C3)work of craftsmen.
They say of them, "Let the ^(F2)people who sacrifice kiss the ^(C4)calves!"

³ Therefore they will be like the ^(C1)morning cloud
And like dew which ^(F1)soon disappears,
Like ^(C2)chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor,
And like ^(C3)smoke from a chimney.

⁴ Yet I have been the ^(C1)LORD your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know ^(C2)any god except Me,
For there is no savior ^(C3)besides Me.

⁵ I ^(F1)(C1)cared for you in the wilderness,
^(C2)In the land of drought.

⁶ As they had their pasture, they became ^(C1)satisfied,
And as they became satisfied, their ^(C2)heart became proud;
Therefore they ^(C3)forgot Me.

⁷ So I will be ^(C1)like a lion to them;
Like a ^(C2)leopard I will ^(F1)lie in wait by the wayside.

⁸ I will confront them ^(C1)like a bear deprived of her cubs,
And I will tear open ^(F1)their chests;
I will also ^(C2)devour them there like a lioness,
As a wild animal would tear them to pieces.

^9 (F1)It is to your own destruction, Israel,
That you are ^(C1)against Me, against your ^(C2)help.

¹⁰ Where then is your ^(C1)king,
That he might save you in all your cities;
And your ^(C2)judges, to whom you said,
"Give me a king and princes"?

¹¹ I ^(C1)gave you a king in My anger,
And ^(C2)took him away in My wrath.

¹² The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up;
His sin is ^(C1)stored up.

¹³ The pains of ^(C1)childbirth come on him;
He is ^(C2)not a wise son,
For ^(F1)it is not the time that he should ^(C3)delay at the opening of the womb.

¹⁴ Shall I ^(C1)ransom them from the ^(F1)power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
^(C2)Death, where are your ^(F2)thorns?
Sheol, where is your sting?
^(C3)Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

¹⁵ Though he ^(C1)flourishes among the ^(F1)reeds,
An ^(C2)east wind will come,
The wind of the LORD coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will ^(C3)become dry
And his spring will dry up;
It will ^(C4)plunder his treasury of every precious article.

^16 (F1)Samaria will pay the penalty for her ^(C1)guilt,
Because she has ^(C2)rebelled against her God.
^(C3)They will fall by the ^(C4)sword,
Their children will be ^(F2)(C5)slaughtered,
And their pregnant ^(C6)women will be ripped open.