1 When Ephraim {Ephraim: northern tribe} spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal {baal: Canaanite deity} and died.
2 And now they keep adding to sin {chato: serious wrongdoing}, and they make for themselves a cast image from their silver, according to their own design—idols, all of it the work of craftsmen {charashim: skilled makers}. They say, “Let those who sacrifice humans kiss calves.”
3 Therefore they will be like a morning cloud {anan: symbol of transience} and like the dew that goes early away, like chaff driven from the threshing floor {goren: agricultural site for separating grain} and like smoke from a window.
4 But I am the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Covenant Redeemer} from the land of Egypt; you shall know no god except Me, for there is no savior {moshia: divine deliverer} besides Me.
5 I{YHWH: Covenant Initiator} knew you in the wilderness, in a land of parched hardship{talavot: drought distress}.
6 As they fed on pasture {kemaritam: grazing land}, they were satisfied; they were filled, and their heart {libbam: inner being} was lifted up; therefore they forgot Me.
7 So I {YHWH, Resolute Judge} am to them like a lion {shachal: strong predator}; like a leopard by the way, I will watch in ambush over them.
8 I {YHWH, Fierce Judge} will meet them like a bereaved bear, and I will tear open the covering {segor: protective layer} of their heart; there I will devour them like a lion, and the beast of the field will rip them open.
9 It has ruined{shikhetkha: wrecked you} you, O Israel, for you are against Me{YHWH, Spurned Helper}—against your Help.
10 Where now is your king {melekh: demanded ruler}, that he may save you in all your cities? And where are your judges {shofetim: governing officials}, of whom you said, “Give to me a king and princes”?
11 I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} gave you a king {melekh: human ruler} in My anger, and I took him away in My wrath.
12 The iniquity {avon: entrenched guilt} of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hidden {tsefunah: securely stored}.
13 The cords {khevlei: birth pangs} of a woman giving birth will come upon him; he is an unwise son, for when the time comes he does not stand in the birthstool {mishbar: delivery opening} for children.
14 I will ransom them from Sheol {sheol: underworld realm}; I will redeem them from death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction {qatavkha: cutting ruin}? Compassion will be hidden from My eyes.
15 For though he thrives among his brothers, an east wind—the wind of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Judge}—will come up from the wilderness. It will dry up his spring {mekor: life source}, and his fountain will be parched; it will strip away every precious treasure from his storehouse.
16 Samaria shall bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God {Eloheha, National Judge}; by the sword they shall fall, their infants {olal: small children} shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women shall be ripped open.