Study Desk

Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, And they do not know the LORD.

They have dealt treacherously against the LORD, For they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their land.

For I will be like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.

"Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early.

For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

And as raiders wait for a man, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they have committed crime.

Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, When I restore the fortunes of My people.

When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they deal falsely; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside,

For their hearts are like an oven As they approach their plotting; Their anger smolders all night, In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.

Though the pride of Israel testifies against him, Yet they have not returned to the LORD their God, Nor have they sought Him, for all this.

Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.

And they do not cry to Me from their heart When they wail on their beds; For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn away from Me.

They have set up kings, but not by Me; They have appointed princes, but I did not know it. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, That they might be cut off.

For from Israel is even this! A craftsman made it, so it is not God; Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.

For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.

For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey all alone; Ephraim has hired lovers.

Since Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin, They have become altars of sinning for him.

Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My law, They are regarded as a strange thing.

As for My sacrificial gifts, They sacrifice the flesh and eat it, But the LORD has taken no delight in them. Now He will remember their iniquity, And punish them for their sins; They will return to Egypt.