1. When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
2. Now they continue to sinand make themselves a cast image, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say about them,“Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves.”
3. Therefore, they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes,like chaff blown from a threshing floor, or like smoke from a window.
4. I have been Yahweh your God ever since the land of Egypt;you know no God but Me, and no Savior exists besides Me.
5. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.
6. When they had pasture,they became satisfied; they were satisfied,and their hearts became proud. Therefore they forgot Me.
7. So I will be like a lion to them;I will lurk like a leopard on the path.
8. I will attack themlike a bear robbed of her cubsand tear open the rib cage over their hearts.I will devour them there like a lioness, like a wild beast that would rip them open.