Study Desk

Hear the word of the Lord ,^(a) people of Israel, for the Lord has a case^(b) against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth,^(c) no faithful love,^(d) and no knowledge of God^(e) in the land!

Cursing,^(f) lying,^(g) murder,^(h) stealing,⁽ⁱ⁾ and adultery^(j) are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.^(k)

For this reason the land mourns,^(l) and everyone who lives in it languishes, along with the wild animals^(m) and the birds of the sky; even the fish of the sea disappear.⁽ⁿ⁾

But let no one dispute;^(o) let no one argue, for My case is against you priests.^[a][b](p)

You will stumble by day;^(q) the prophet will also stumble with you by night. And I will destroy your mother.^(r)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.^(s) Because you have rejected knowledge,^(t) I will reject you^(u) from serving as My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God,^(v) I will also forget your sons.

The more they multiplied,^(w) the more they sinned against Me. I^[c] will change their honor^[d] into disgrace.^(x)

They feed on the sin^[e] of My people;^(y) they have an appetite for their transgressions.^(z)

The same judgment will happen to both people and priests.^(aa) I will punish them for their ways^(ab) and repay them for their deeds.

They will eat but not be satisfied;^(ac) they will be promiscuous^(ad) but not multiply. For they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord .^(ae)

Promiscuity,^(af) wine, and new wine take away one's understanding.^(ag)

My people consult their wooden idols,^(ah) and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray;^(ai) they act promiscuously^(aj) in disobedience to^[f] their God.

They sacrifice on the mountaintops,^(ak) and they burn offerings on the hills,^(al) and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,^(am) because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters act promiscuously and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

I will not punish your daughters when they act promiscuously or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, for the men themselves go off with prostitutes^(an) and make sacrifices with cult prostitutes.^(ao) People without discernment are doomed.^(ap)

Israel, if you act promiscuously, don't let Judah become guilty! Do not go to Gilgal^(aq) or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven,^[g](ar) and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives!^(as)

For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow.^(at) Can the Lord now shepherd them like a lamb in an open meadow?^(au)

Ephraim is attached to idols;^(av) leave him alone!^(aw)

When their drinking is over, they turn to promiscuity. Israel's leaders^[h] fervently love disgrace.^[i]

A wind with its wings will carry them off,^[j](ax) and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.

Hear this, priests!^(a) Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, royal house! For the judgment applies to you because you have been a snare at Mizpah^(b) and a net spread out on Tabor.

Rebels^(c) are deeply involved in slaughter;^(d) I will be a punishment for all of them.^[a]

I know Ephraim,^(e) and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, Ephraim,^(f) you have acted promiscuously; Israel is defiled.

Their actions do not allow them to return to their God,^(g) for a spirit of promiscuity is among them,^(h) and they do not know the Lord .⁽ⁱ⁾

Israel's arrogance testifies against them.^[b](j) Both Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their wickedness;^(k) even Judah will stumble with them.^(l)

They go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord ^(m) but do not find Him;⁽ⁿ⁾ He has withdrawn from them.^(o)

They betrayed the Lord ;^(p) indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.^(q) Now the New Moon^(r) will devour them along with their fields.^(s)

Blow the horn in Gibeah,^(t) the trumpet in Ramah;^(u) raise the war cry in Beth-aven:^(v) After you, Benjamin!^(w)

Ephraim will become a desolation^(x) on the day of punishment;^(y) I announce what is certain among the tribes of Israel.^(z)

The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers;^(aa) I will pour out My fury^(ab) on them like water.^(ac)

Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,^(ad) for he is determined to follow what is worthless.^[c]

So I am like rot to Ephraim^(ae) and like decay to the house of Judah.

When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria^(af) and sent a delegation to the great king.^[d](ag) But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.^(ah)

For I am like a lion to Ephraim^(ai) and like a young lion to the house of Judah. Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart.^(aj) I will carry them off, and no one can rescue them.^(ak)

I will depart and return to My place until they recognize their guilt and seek My face;^(al) they will search for Me in their distress.^(am)

Come, let us return to the Lord .^(a) For He has torn us,^(b) and He will heal us;^(c) He has wounded us, and He will bind up our wounds.^(d)

He will revive us after two days,^(e) and on the third day He will raise us up so we can live in His presence.^(f)

Let us strive to know the Lord .^(g) His appearance is as sure as the dawn.^(h) He will come to us like the rain,⁽ⁱ⁾ like the spring showers that water the land.

What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?^(j) What am I going to do with you, Judah? Your loyalty is like the morning mist^(k) and like the early dew that vanishes.

This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down;^[a](l) I have killed them with the words of My mouth. My judgment strikes like lightning.^[b]

For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God^(m) rather than burnt offerings.⁽ⁿ⁾

But they, like Adam,^[c] have violated the covenant;^(o) there they have betrayed Me.^(p)

Gilead is a city of evildoers,^(q) tracked with bloody footprints.^(r)

Like raiders who wait in ambush for someone,^(s) a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem.^(t) They commit atrocities.^(u)

I have seen something horrible^(v) in the house of Israel: Ephraim's promiscuity is there;^(w) Israel is defiled.

A harvest is also appointed for you, Judah.^(x) When I^[d] return My people from captivity,^(y)

when I heal Israel,^(a) the sins of Ephraim^(b) and the crimes of Samaria^(c) will be exposed. For they practice fraud;^(d) a thief breaks in; a raiding party pillages outside.^(e)

But they never consider that I remember all their evil.^(f) Now their sins are all around them;^(g) they are right in front of My face.

They please the king with their evil,^(h) the princes with their lies.⁽ⁱ⁾

All of them commit adultery;^(j) they are like an oven heated by a baker who stops stirring the fire from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

On the day of our king, the princes are sick with the heat of wine^(k)— there is a conspiracy with traitors.^[a]

For they—their hearts like an oven— draw him into their oven. Their anger smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

All of them are as hot as an oven,^(l) and they consume their rulers.^(m) All their kings fall; not one of them calls on Me.^[b]

Ephraim has allowed himself to get mixed up with the nations. Ephraim is unturned bread baked on a griddle.

Foreigners consume his strength,⁽ⁿ⁾ but he does not notice.^(o) Even his hair is streaked with gray, but he does not notice.

Israel's arrogance testifies against them,^[c](p) yet they do not return to Yahweh their God,^(q) and for all this, they do not seek Him.

So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove;^(r) they call to Egypt,^(s) and they go to Assyria.^(t)

As they are going, I will spread My net over them;^(u) I will bring them down like birds of the sky. I will discipline them in accordance with the news that reaches^[d] their assembly.

Woe to them,^(v) for they fled from Me;^(w) destruction to them, for they rebelled against Me! Though I want to redeem them,^(x) they speak lies against Me.

They do not cry to Me from their hearts; rather, they wail on their beds. They slash themselves^[e](y) for grain and new wine;^(z) they turn away from Me.

I trained and strengthened their arms,^(aa) but they plot evil against Me.^(ab)

They turn, but not to what is above;^[f] they are like a faulty bow.^(ac) Their leaders will fall by the sword because of the cursing of their tongue.^(ad) They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt.^(ae)

Put the horn to your mouth!^(a) One like an eagle comes against the house of the Lord ,^(b) because they transgress My covenant^(c) and rebel against My law.^(d)

Israel cries out to Me,^(e) "My God, we know You!"

Israel has rejected what is good;^(f) an enemy will pursue him.

They have installed kings,^(g) but not through Me. They have appointed leaders, but without My approval. They make their silver and gold^(h) into idols for themselves for their own destruction.^[a]

Your calf-idol^[b](i) is rejected, Samaria.^(j) My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?^(k)

For this thing is from Israel— a craftsman made it,^(l) and it is not God. The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!

Indeed, they sow the wind^(m) and reap the whirlwind.⁽ⁿ⁾ There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour.^(o) Even if they did, foreigners would swallow it up.

Israel is swallowed up!^(p) Now they are among the nations like discarded pottery.^(q)

For they have gone up to Assyria^(r) like a wild donkey going off on its own. Ephraim has paid for love.^(s)

Even though they hire lovers among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to decrease in number^(t) under the burden of the king and leaders.^(u)

When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin,^(v) they became his altars for sinning.

Though I were to write out for him ten thousand points of My instruction,^(w) they would be^[c] regarded as something strange.

Though they offer sacrificial gifts^[d](x) and eat the flesh,^(y) the Lord does not accept them. Now He will remember their guilt^(z) and punish their sins;^(aa) they will return to Egypt.^(ab)

Israel has forgotten his Maker^(ac) and built palaces;^(ad) Judah has also multiplied fortified cities. I will send fire on their cities,^(ae) and it will consume their citadels.

Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do,^(a) for you have acted promiscuously,^(b) leaving your God. You have loved the wages of a prostitute on every grain-threshing floor.^(c)

Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them,^(d) and the new wine will fail them.

They will not stay in the land of the Lord . Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt,^(e) and they will eat unclean food^(f) in Assyria.^(g)

They will not pour out their wine offerings to the Lord ,^(h) and their sacrifices will not please Him. Their food will be like the bread of mourners; all who eat it become defiled.⁽ⁱ⁾ For their bread will be for their appetites alone; it will not enter the house of the Lord .

What will you do on a festival day,^(j) on the day of the Lord 's feast?^(k)

For even if they flee from devastation, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them.^(l) Thistles will take possession of their precious silver; thorns will invade their tents.^(m)

The days of punishment have come;⁽ⁿ⁾ the days of retribution have come.^(o) Let Israel recognize it! The prophet is a fool,^(p) and the inspired man is insane,^(q) because of the magnitude of your guilt and hostility.^(r)

Ephraim's watchman is with my God. The prophet encounters a fowler's snare on all his ways.^(s) Hostility is in the house of his God!

They have deeply corrupted themselves^(t) as in the days of Gibeah.^(u) He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.^(v)

I discovered Israel like grapes in the wilderness.^(w) I saw your fathers like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season.^(x) But they went to Baal-peor,^(y) consecrated themselves to Shame,^[a](z) and became detestable,^(aa) like the thing they loved.

Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird:^(ab) no birth, no gestation, no conception.^(ac)

Even if they raise children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!^(ad)

I have seen Ephraim like Tyre,^(ae) planted in a meadow, so Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner.

Give them, Lord — What should You give? Give them a womb that miscarries and breasts that are dry!^(af)

All their evil appears at Gilgal,^(ag) for there I came to hate them. I will drive them from My house because of their evil, wicked actions.^(ah) I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.^(ai)

Ephraim^(aj) is struck down; their roots are withered; they cannot bear fruit.^(ak) Even if they bear children, I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.^(al)

My God will reject them because they have not listened to Him;^(am) they will become wanderers among the nations.^(an)