¹ Når Efra'im talte, blev alle redde; han raget høit op i Israel; da førte han skyld over sig ved å dyrke Ba'al og døde.

² Og nu blir de ved å synde og gjøre sig støpte billeder av sitt sølv, avguder efter sin egen forstand, alle sammen håndverkeres arbeid; sådanne er det de taler til - mennesker som ofrer, kysser kalver!

³ Derfor skal de bli som en morgensky, lik duggen som tidlig svinner bort, lik agner som vinden fører bort fra treskeplassen, og som røk fra et røkfang.

⁴ Men jeg er Herren din Gud fra Egyptens land, og nogen annen Gud enn mig kjenner du ikke, og nogen annen frelser finnes det ikke.

⁵ Det var jeg som sørget for dig i ørkenen, i det brennhete land.

⁶ Fordi deres beite var godt, blev de mette; og da de blev mette, ophøiet de sig i sitt hjerte, og så glemte de mig.

⁷ Da blev jeg mot dem som en løve; som en leopard lurer jeg ved veien;

⁸ jeg vil møte dem som en bjørn som ungene er tatt fra, og sønderrive deres hjertes dekke*; jeg vil fortære dem som en løvinne; markens ville dyr skal sønderslite dem. / {* d.e. deres bryst.}

⁹ Det er blitt til din ødeleggelse, Israel, at du har satt dig op imot mig, jeg som er din hjelp.

¹⁰ Hvor er da din konge, at han skulde kunne frelse dig i alle dine byer, og dine dommere, om hvem du sa: Gi mig en konge og fyrster?

¹¹ Jeg gir dig en konge i min vrede, og jeg tar ham bort igjen i min harme.

¹² Efra'ims misgjerning er samlet i en pung, hans synd er gjemt.

¹³ Veer som hos en fødende kvinne skal komme over ham. Han er en uforstandig sønn; når tiden er der, kommer han ikke frem i modermunnen.

¹⁴ Av dødsrikets vold vil jeg fri dem ut, fra døden vil jeg forløse dem. Død! Hvor er din pest? Dødsrike! Hvor er din sott? Anger er skjult for mine øine*. / {* jeg angrer ikke hvad jeg har lovt; 4MO 23, 19.}

¹⁵ For han brer frukt*, der han står blandt sine brødre; men det kommer en østenvind, et Herrens vær, som drar op fra ørkenen, og hans brønn blir tom, og hans kilde tørkes ut; den** røver den hele skatt av kostelige ting. / {* 1MO 48, 19; 49, 22.} {** østenvinden, d.e. assyrerne; HSE 4, 19.}

¹⁵ han som ledet dig i den store og forferdelige ørken blandt giftige slanger og skorpioner og på tørre ødemarker, hvor det ikke fantes vann, han som lot vann strømme ut for dig av den hårde klippe,

¹ It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there on me.

² Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.

³ He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner [court] that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

⁴ Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.

⁵ Then he said to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

⁶ He said to me, Son of man, do you see what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall again see yet other great abominations.

⁷ He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.

⁸ Then he said to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.

⁹ He said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.

¹⁰ So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.

¹¹ There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.

¹² Then he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? for they say, Yahweh doesn't see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.

¹³ He said also to me, You shall again see yet other great abominations which they do.

¹⁴ Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh's house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵ Then he said to me, Have you seen [this], son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these.

¹⁶ He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh's house; and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.

¹⁷ Then he said to me, Have you seen [this], son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and behold, they put the branch to their nose.

¹⁸ Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.