Ephraim’s Iniquity

1When I would heal Israel,
            The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,
            And the evil deeds of Samaria,
            For they deal falsely;
            The thief enters in,
            Bandits raid outside,

      2And they do not consider in their hearts
            That I remember all their wickedness.
            Now their deeds are all around them;
            They are before My face.

      3With their wickedness they make the king glad,
            And the princes with their lies.

      4They are all adulterers,
            Like an oven heated by the baker
            Who ceases to stir up the fire
            From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

      5On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
            He stretched out his hand with scoffers,

      6For their hearts are like an oven
            As they approach their plotting;
            Their anger smolders all night,
            In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.

      7All of them are hot like an oven,
            And they consume their rulers;
            All their kings have fallen.
            None of them calls on Me.

      8Ephraim mixes himself with the nations;
            Ephraim has become a cake not turned.

      9Strangers devour his strength,
            Yet he does not know it;
            Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him,
            Yet he does not know it.

      10Though the pride of Israel testifies against him,
            Yet they have not returned to the LORD their God,
            Nor have they sought Him, for all this.

      11So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without sense;
            They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

      12When they go, I will spread My net over them;
            I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.
            I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly.

      13Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me!
            Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!
            I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.

      14And they do not cry to Me from their heart
            When they wail on their beds;
            For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves,
            They turn away from Me.

      15Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
            Yet they devise evil against Me.

      16They turn, but not upward,
            They are like a deceitful bow;
            Their princes will fall by the sword
            Because of the insolence of their tongue.
            This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.