1. When the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the other tribes trembled with fear. Ephraim was honored in Israel. But its people sinned by worshiping Baal. So they were as good as dead.
2. Now they sin more and more. They use their silver to make statues of gods for themselves. The statues come from their own clever ideas. Skilled workers make all of them. The people pray to those gods. They offer human sacrifices to them. They kiss the gods that look like calves.
3. So those people will vanish like the morning mist. They will soon disappear like the early dew. They will be like straw that the wind blows around on a threshing floor. They will be like smoke that escapes through a window.
4. The Lord says, "People of Israel, I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. You must not recognize any God but me. You must not have any Savior except me.
5. I took care of you in the desert. It was a land of burning heat.
6. I fed you until you were satisfied. Then you became proud. You forgot all about me.