1. whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets;
2. but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.
3. “They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies.
4. They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5. On the day of the festival of our king the princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers.
6. Their hearts are like an oven; they approach him with intrigue. Their passion smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7. All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.
8. “Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9. Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice.