Study Desk

^[a]1Ephraim^(a) feeds on the wind;^(b) he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence.^(c) He makes a treaty with Assyria^(d) and sends olive oil to Egypt.^(e)

The Lord has a charge^(f) to bring against Judah;^(g) he will punish^(h) Jacob^[b] according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.⁽ⁱ⁾

In the womb he grasped his brother's heel;^(j) as a man he struggled^(k) with God.

He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel^(l) and talked with him there—

the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name!^(m)

But you must return⁽ⁿ⁾ to your God; maintain love and justice,^(o) and wait for your God always.^(p)

The merchant uses dishonest scales^(q) and loves to defraud.

Ephraim boasts,^(r) "I am very rich; I have become wealthy.^(s) With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin."

"I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt;^(t) I will make you live in tents^(u) again, as in the days of your appointed festivals.

I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables^(v) through them."^(w)

Is Gilead wicked?^(x) Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?^(y) Their altars will be like piles of stones on a plowed field.^(z)

Jacob fled to the country of Aram^[c];^(aa) Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep.^(ab)

The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,^(ac) by a prophet he cared for him.^(ad)

But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger; his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed^(ae) and will repay him for his contempt.^(af)

When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;^(a) he was exalted^(b) in Israel. But he became guilty of Baal worship^(c) and died.

Now they sin more and more; they make^(d) idols for themselves from their silver,^(e) cleverly fashioned images, all of them the work of craftsmen.^(f) It is said of these people, "They offer human sacrifices! They kiss^[a](g) calf-idols!^(h)"

Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears,⁽ⁱ⁾ like chaff^(j) swirling from a threshing floor,^(k) like smoke^(l) escaping through a window.

"But I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt.^(m) You shall acknowledge⁽ⁿ⁾ no God but me,^(o) no Savior^(p) except me.

I cared for you in the wilderness,^(q) in the land of burning heat.

When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud;^(r) then they forgot^(s) me.^(t)

So I will be like a lion^(u) to them, like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

Like a bear robbed of her cubs,^(v) I will attack them and rip them open; like a lion^(w) I will devour them— a wild animal will tear them apart.^(x)

"You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me,^(y) against your helper.^(z)

Where is your king,^(aa) that he may save you? Where are your rulers in all your towns, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes'?^(ab)

So in my anger I gave you a king,^(ac) and in my wrath I took him away.^(ad)

The guilt of Ephraim is stored up, his sins are kept on record.^(ae)

Pains as of a woman in childbirth^(af) come to him, but he is a child without wisdom; when the time^(ag) arrives, he doesn't have the sense to come out of the womb.^(ah)

"I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;^(ai) I will redeem them from death.^(aj) Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?^(ak) "I will have no compassion,

even though he thrives^(al) among his brothers. An east wind^(am) from the Lord will come, blowing in from the desert; his spring will fail and his well dry up.^(an) His storehouse will be plundered^(ao) of all its treasures.

The people of Samaria^(ap) must bear their guilt,^(aq) because they have rebelled^(ar) against their God. They will fall by the sword;^(as) their little ones will be dashed^(at) to the ground, their pregnant women^(au) ripped open."^[b]

^[a]Return,^(a) Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins^(b) have been your downfall!^(c)

Take words with you and return to the Lord . Say to him: "Forgive^(d) all our sins and receive us graciously,^(e) that we may offer the fruit of our lips.^[b](f)

Assyria cannot save us;^(g) we will not mount warhorses.^(h) We will never again say ‘Our gods'⁽ⁱ⁾ to what our own hands have made,^(j) for in you the fatherless^(k) find compassion."

"I will heal^(l) their waywardness^(m) and love them freely,⁽ⁿ⁾ for my anger has turned away^(o) from them.

I will be like the dew^(p) to Israel; he will blossom like a lily.^(q) Like a cedar of Lebanon^(r) he will send down his roots;^(s)

his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree,^(t) his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.^(u)

People will dwell again in his shade;^(v) they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom^(w) like the vine— Israel's fame will be like the wine^(x) of Lebanon.^(y)

Ephraim, what more have I^[c] to do with idols?^(z) I will answer him and care for him. I am like a flourishing juniper;^(aa) your fruitfulness comes from me."

Who is wise?^(ab) Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand.^(ac) The ways of the Lord are right;^(ad) the righteous walk^(ae) in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.