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.}

¹⁰ Ja, nu vil jeg avdekke hennes visne kropp for hennes elskeres øine, og ingen skal rive henne ut av min hånd.

¹ The hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.

² He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry.

³ He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, you know.

⁴ Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh.

⁵ Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

⁶ I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

⁸ I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.

¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

¹¹ Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.

¹² Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

¹³ You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people.

¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.

¹⁵ The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,

¹⁶ You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions:

¹⁷ and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

¹⁸ When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?

¹⁹ tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.

²⁰ The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.

²¹ Say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

²² and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;

²³ neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴ My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.

²⁵ They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.

²⁶ Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore.

²⁷ My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

²⁸ The nations shall know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.