1. “Whenever I want to heal Israel,all I can see is Ephraim’s sin and Samaria’s wickedness.People cheat each other.They break into houses and steal.They rob people in the streets.
2. They don’t realize that I rememberall the evil things they’ve done.Now their sins surround them.Their sins are in my presence.
3. “They make kings happy with the wicked things they do.They make officials happy with the lies they tell.
4. They all commit adultery.They are like a heated oven,an oven so hot that a baker doesn’t have to fan its flameswhen he makes bread.
5. On the day of the king’s celebration,the officials become drunk from wine,and the king joins mockers.
6. They become hot like an oven while they lie in ambush.All night long their anger smolders,but in the morning it burns like a raging fire.
7. They are all as hot as an oven.They consume their judges ⌊like a fire⌋.All their kings die in battle, and none of them calls to me.
8. “Ephraim mixes with other nations.Ephraim, you are like a half-baked loaf of bread.
9. Foreigners are using up your strength, but you don’t realize it.You have become a gray-haired, old man, but you don’t realize it.
10. Israel, your arrogance testifies against you,but even after all this, you don’t turn to the Lord your Godor look to him for help.
11. Ephraim, you are like a silly, senseless dove.You call for Egypt and run to Assyria for help.