5  For ^gtheir mother has played the whore;

she who conceived them has acted shamefully.

For ^hshe said, ‘I will go after my lovers,

who ⁱgive me my bread and my water,

my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’

13  And ^bI will punish her for ^cthe feast days of the Baals

when she burned offerings to them

and ^dadorned herself with her ring and jewelry,

and went after her lovers

and forgot me, declares the Lord.

6  My people are destroyed ^vfor lack of knowledge;

^wbecause you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you ^xfrom being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

^yI also will forget your children.

7  ^zThe more they increased,

the more they sinned against me;

^aI will change their glory into shame.

12  My people ^finquire of a piece of wood,

and their walking staff gives them oracles.

For ^ga spirit of whoredom has led them astray,

and they have left their God to play the whore.

4  ^cTheir deeds do not permit them

to return to their God.

For ^dthe spirit of whoredom is within them,

and they know not the Lord.

11  Ephraim is ^ooppressed, crushed in judgment,

because he was determined to go after filth.¹

13  When Ephraim saw his sickness,

and Judah ^qhis wound,

then Ephraim went ^rto Assyria,

and sent to the great king.¹

^sBut he is not able to cure you

or heal ^qyour wound.