¹ When Ephraim spake, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.

² And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

³ Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that passeth early away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

⁴ Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt know no God but me, and besides me there is no saviour.

⁵ I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

⁶ According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me.

⁷ Therefore am I unto them as a lion; as a leopard will I watch by the way;

⁸ I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart; and there will I devour them like a lioness; the wild beast shall tear them.

⁹ It is thy destruction, O Israel, that [thou art] against me, against thy help.

¹⁰ Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?

¹¹ I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath.

¹² The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid up in store.

¹³ The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children.

¹⁴ I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction? repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

¹⁵ Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the breath of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness; and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall make spoil of the treasure of all goodly vessels.

¹⁶ Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

¹ Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame;

² before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you.

³ Seek ye Jehovah, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept his ordinances; Seek righteousness, Seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger.

⁴ For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

⁵ Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

⁶ And the sea-coast shall be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks.

⁷ And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed [their flocks] thereupon; in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening; for Jehovah their God will visit them, and bring back their captivity.

⁸ I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.

⁹ Therefore as I live, saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall make a prey of them, and the remnant of my nation shall inherit them.

¹⁰ This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah of hosts.

¹¹ Jehovah will be terrible unto them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the nations.

¹² Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.

¹³ And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.

¹⁴ And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the capitals thereof; [their] voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he hath laid bare the cedar-work.

¹⁵ This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.