1  When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;

^bhe was exalted in Israel,

but he incurred guilt ^cthrough Baal and died.

2  And now they sin more and more,

and ^dmake for themselves metal images,

idols skillfully made of their silver,

^eall of them the work of craftsmen.

It is said of them,

“Those who offer human sacrifice ^fkiss calves!”

3  Therefore they shall be ^glike the morning mist

or ^glike the dew that goes early away,

^hlike the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor

or ⁱlike smoke from a window.

4  But ^jI am the Lord your God

from the land of Egypt;

^kyou know no God but me,

and ^lbesides me there is no savior.

5  ^mIt was I who knew you in the wilderness,

in the land of drought;

6  ⁿbut when they had grazed,¹ they became full,

^othey were filled, and their heart was lifted up;

^otherefore they forgot me.

7  So ^pI am to them like a lion;

^qlike a leopard I will lurk beside the way.

8  I will fall upon them ^rlike a bear robbed of her cubs;

I will tear open their breast,

and there I will devour them like a lion,

^sas a wild beast would rip them open.

9  He destroys² you, O Israel,

for you are against me, against ^tyour helper.

10  ^uWhere now is your king, to save you in all your cities?

Where are all your rulers—

those of whom ^vyou said,

“Give me a king and princes”?

11  ^wI gave you a king in my anger,

and ^xI took him away in my wrath.

12  The iniquity of Ephraim is ^ybound up;

his sin is ^ykept in store.

13  ^zThe pangs of childbirth come for him,

but he is an unwise son,

for at the right time he does not present himself

^aat the opening of the womb.

14  ^bI shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;

^bI shall redeem them from Death.³

^cO ^dDeath, where are your plagues?

^cO ^dSheol, where is your sting?

^eCompassion is hidden from my eyes.

15  Though ^fhe may flourish among his brothers,

^gthe east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,

rising from the wilderness,

^hand his fountain shall dry up;

his spring shall be parched;

it shall strip ⁱhis treasury

of every precious thing.

16  ⁴ Samaria ^jshall bear her guilt,

because ^kshe has rebelled against her God;

they shall fall by the sword;

^ltheir little ones shall be dashed in pieces,

and their ^mpregnant women ripped open.

1  ⁿReturn, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for ^oyou have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2  Take with you words

and return to the Lord;

say to him,

“Take away all iniquity;

accept ^pwhat is good,

and we will pay with bulls

^qthe vows⁵ of our lips.

3  ^rAssyria shall not save us;

^swe will not ride on horses;

and ^twe will say no more, ‘Our God,’

to the work of our hands.

^uIn you the orphan finds mercy.”

4  I ^vwill heal their apostasy;

^wI will love them freely,

for my anger has turned from them.

5  ^xI will be like the dew to Israel;

^yhe shall blossom like the lily;

he shall take root like the trees ^zof Lebanon;

6  his shoots shall spread out;

his beauty shall be ^alike the olive,

and his fragrance like Lebanon.

7  They shall return and ^bdwell beneath my⁶ shadow;

they shall flourish like the grain;

they shall blossom like the vine;

their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8  O ^cEphraim, what have I to do with idols?

It is I who answer and look after you.⁷

I am like an evergreen cypress;

^dfrom me comes your fruit.

9  ^eWhoever is wise, let him understand these things;

whoever is discerning, let him know them;

for the ways of the Lord are right,

and ^fthe upright walk in them,

^fbut transgressors stumble in them.

2  ^aHear this, ^byou elders;

give ear, ^ball inhabitants of the land!

^cHas such a thing happened in your days,

or in the days of your fathers?

3  ^dTell your children of it,

and let your children tell their children,

and their children to another generation.

4  What ^ethe cutting locust left,

^fthe swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

^gthe hopping locust has eaten,

and what the hopping locust left,

^hthe destroying locust has eaten.

5  Awake, you drunkards, and weep,

and ⁱwail, all you drinkers of wine,

because of ^jthe sweet wine,

for it is cut off from your mouth.

6  For ^ka nation has come up against my land,

^kpowerful and beyond number;

^lits teeth are lions’ teeth,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.

7  It has laid waste my vine

and splintered my ^mfig tree;

it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;

their branches are made white.

8  Lament like a virgin^{1 n}wearing sackcloth

for the bridegroom of her youth.

9  ^oThe grain offering and the drink offering are cut off

from the house of the Lord.

^pThe priests mourn,

^pthe ministers of the Lord.

10  The fields are destroyed,

^qthe ground mourns,

because ^rthe grain is destroyed,

^rthe wine dries up,

the oil languishes.

11  ^sBe ashamed,² O tillers of the soil;

wail, O vinedressers,

for the wheat and the barley,

^tbecause the harvest of the field has perished.

12  The vine dries up;

^uthe fig tree languishes.

Pomegranate, palm, and apple,

all the trees of the field are dried up,

and ^vgladness dries up

from the children of man.

13  ^wPut on sackcloth and lament, ^pO priests;

^xwail, O ministers of the altar.

Go in, ^wpass the night in sackcloth,

^pO ministers of my God!

^yBecause grain offering and drink offering

are withheld from the house of your God.

14  ^zConsecrate a fast;

^zcall a solemn assembly.

Gather ^athe elders

and ^aall the inhabitants of the land

to the house of the Lord your God,

and cry out to the Lord.

15  Alas for the day!

^bFor the day of the Lord is near,

and as destruction from the Almighty³ it comes.

16  Is not the food cut off

before our eyes,

^cjoy and gladness

from the house of our God?

17  ^dThe seed shrivels under the clods;⁴

the storehouses are desolate;

the granaries are torn down

because ^ethe grain has dried up.

18  How ^fthe beasts groan!

The herds of cattle are perplexed

because there is no pasture for them;

even the flocks of sheep suffer.⁵

19  To you, ^gO Lord, I call.

^hFor fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness,

^hand flame has burned

all the trees of the field.

20  Even the beasts of the field ⁱpant for you

because the water brooks are dried up,

^hand fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness.

5  12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,

12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,

12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

6  12,000 from the tribe of Asher,

12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,

12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

7  12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,

12,000 from the tribe of Levi,

12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,

8  12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,

12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,

12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

15  “Therefore they are before the throne of God,

and ⁿserve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne ^owill shelter them with his presence.

16  ^pThey shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;

^qthe sun shall not strike them,

nor any scorching heat.

17  For the Lamb in the midst of the throne ^rwill be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of ^sliving water,

and ^tGod will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”