Study Desk

Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, you of the house of the king! For the judgment applies to you, Because you have been a ^(C1)trap at Mizpah, And a net spread out on Tabor.

And the ^(C1)rebels have ^(C2)gone deep in ^(F1)depravity, But I will discipline all of them.

I ^(C1)know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful, Israel has defiled itself.

Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a ^(C1)spirit of ^(F1)infidelity is within them, And they ^(C2)do not know the LORD.

Moreover, the ^(C1)pride of Israel testifies against him, And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their wrongdoing; ^(C2)Judah also has stumbled with them.

They will ^(C1)go with their flocks and herds To seek the LORD, but they will ^(C2)not find Him; He has ^(C3)withdrawn from them.

They have ^(C1)dealt treacherously with the LORD, For they have given birth to ^(F1)(C2)illegitimate children. Now the ^(C3)new moon will devour them with their ^(F2)land.

^(C1)Blow the horn in ^(C2)Gibeah, And the trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Beth-aven: "^(C3)Behind you, Benjamin!"

Ephraim will become a ^(C1)desolation in the ^(C2)day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I ^(C3)make known what is trustworthy.

The leaders of Judah have become like those who ^(C1)displace a boundary marker; On them I will ^(C2)pour out My anger ^(C3)like water.

Ephraim is ^(C1)oppressed, broken by judgment, ^(C2)Because he was determined to follow ^(F1)man's command.

Therefore I am like a ^(C1)moth to Ephraim, And like rottenness to the house of Judah.

When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah his ^(F1)sore, Ephraim then went to ^(C1)Assyria And sent word to ^(F2)(C2)King Jareb. But he is ^(C3)unable to heal you, Or to cure you of your ^(F1)sore.

For I will be ^(C1)like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah. ^(C2)I, yes I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be ^(C3)no one to rescue.

I will go away and return to My place Until they ^(F1)(C1)acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their distress they will ^(C2)search for Me.

"^(C1)Come, let's return to the LORD. For ^(C2)He has torn us, but ^(C3)He will heal us; He has ^(F1)wounded us, but He will ^(C4)bandage us.

-"He will ^(C1)revive us after two days; He will ^(C2)raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.

-"So let's ^(C1)learn, let's press on to know the LORD. His ^(C2)appearance is as sure as the dawn; And He will come to us like the ^(C3)rain, As the spring rain waters the earth."

What shall I do with you, ^(C1)Ephraim? What shall I do with you, Judah? For your loyalty is like a ^(C2)morning cloud, And like the dew which goes away early.

Therefore I have ^(C1)cut them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the ^(C2)words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that ^(F1)shines.

For ^(C1)I ^(F1)desire loyalty ^(C2)rather than sacrifice, And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

But ^(C1)like ^(F1)Adam they have ^(C2)violated the covenant; There they have ^(C3)dealt treacherously with Me.

^(C1)Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, Tracked with ^(C2)bloody footprints.

And as a ^(C1)band of robbers lie in wait for a person, So a band of priests ^(C2)murder on the way to Shechem; Certainly they have committed an act of ^(C3)infamy.

In the house of Israel I have seen a ^(C1)horrible thing; Ephraim's ^(C2)infidelity is there, Israel has defiled itself.

Also, Judah, there is a ^(C1)harvest appointed for you, When I ^(C2)restore the fortunes of My people.

When I ^(C1)would heal Israel, The wrongdoing of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they practice ^(C2)deception; The thief enters, A band of ^(C3)robbers attack outside,

And they do not ^(F1)consider in their hearts That I ^(C1)remember all their wickedness. Now their ^(C2)deeds surround them; They are before My face.

^(C1)With their wickedness they make the ^(C2)king happy, And the officials with their ^(C3)lies.

They are ^(C1)all adulterers, Like an oven heated by the baker, Who stops ^(F1)stoking the fire From the time the dough is kneaded until it is leavened.

On the ^(F1)day of our king, the officials ^(C1)became sick with the heat of wine; He stretched out his hand with ^(F2)(C2)scoffers,

For their hearts are like an ^(C1)oven As they approach their ^(F1)plotting; Their ^(F2)anger ^(F3)smolders all night, In the morning it burns like flaming fire.

All of them are hot like an oven, And they consume their ^(C1)rulers; All their kings have fallen. ^(C2)None of them calls on Me.

Ephraim is himself ^(C1)thrown about with the ^(F1)nations; Ephraim has become a round loaf not turned over.

^(C1)Strangers devour his strength, Yet he ^(C2)does not know it; Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, Yet he does not know it.

Though the ^(C1)pride of Israel testifies against him, Yet ^(C2)they have not returned to the LORD their God, Nor have they sought Him, despite all this.

So ^(C1)Ephraim has become like a gullible dove, ^(C2)without ^(F1)sense; They call to ^(C3)Egypt, they go to ^(C4)Assyria.

When they go, I will ^(C1)spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will ^(C2)discipline them in accordance with the ^(F1)proclamation to their assembly.

^(C1)Woe to them, for they have ^(C2)strayed from Me! Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me! I ^(C3)would redeem them, but they have spoken lies against Me.

And ^(C1)they do not cry to Me from their heart When they wail on their beds; For the sake of grain and new wine they ^(F1)(C2)assemble themselves, They ^(C3)turn against Me.

Although I trained and strengthened their arms, Yet they ^(C1)devise evil against Me.

They turn, but not ^(F1)upward, They are like a ^(C1)loose bow; Their officials will fall by the sword Because of the ^(F2)(C2)insolence of their tongue. This will be their ^(C3)derision in the land of Egypt.

^(C1)Put the trumpet to your ^(F1)lips! ^(C2)Like an eagle the enemy comes ^(C3)against the house of the LORD, Because they have ^(C4)violated My covenant And rebelled against My ^(C5)Law.

^(C1)They cry out to Me, "My God, ^(C2)we of Israel know You!"

Israel has rejected the good; The enemy will pursue him.

^(C1)They have set up kings, but not by Me; They have appointed officials, but I did not know it. With their ^(C2)silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, So that ^(F1)they will be eliminated.

^(F1)He has rejected your ^(C1)calf, Samaria, saying, "My anger burns against them!" How long will they be incapable of ^(C2)innocence?

For from Israel comes even this! A ^(C1)craftsman made it, so it is not God; Assuredly, the calf of Samaria will be broken to ^(F1)pieces.

For ^(C1)they sow wind And they harvest a ^(C2)storm. The standing grain has no ^(F1)kernels; It yields ^(C3)no ^(F2)grain. If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it.

Israel has been ^(C1)swallowed up; They are now among the nations Like a ^(C2)vessel in which no one delights.

For they have gone up to ^(C1)Assyria, Like ^(C2)a wild donkey all alone; Ephraim has ^(C3)paid fees for ^(F1)lovers.

Even though they ^(F1)pay for allies among the nations, I will ^(C1)gather them up now; And they will begin ^(C2)to diminish Because of the burden of the ^(C3)king of officials.

Since Ephraim has ^(C1)multiplied altars for sin, They have become altars of sinning for him.

Though ^(C1)I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My ^(C2)Law, They are regarded as a strange thing.

As for My ^(C1)sacrificial gifts, They ^(C2)sacrifice the flesh and eat it, But the LORD has taken no delight in them. Now He will ^(C3)remember their guilt, And ^(C4)punish them for their sins; They will return to ^(C5)Egypt.

For Israel has ^(C1)forgotten his Maker and ^(C2)built palaces; And Judah has multiplied fortified cities, But I will send a ^(C3)fire on its cities, and it will consume its palatial buildings.