## Ephraim's Idolatry 

###### 1
When Ephraim spoke, _there was_ trembling. He lifted himself up in Israel, But through Baal he became guilty and died. 

###### 2
And now they sin more and more And make for themselves molten images, Idols _made_ from their silver according to their understanding, All of them the work of craftsmen. They are saying of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!" 

###### 3
Therefore they will be like the morning cloud And like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor And like smoke from a chimney. 

###### 4
Yet I _have been_ Yahweh your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, And there is no savior besides Me. 

###### 5
I Myself knew you in the wilderness, In the land of drought. 

###### 6
As _they had_ their pasture, then they became satisfied, Indeed, they were satisfied, and their heart became raised up; Therefore they forgot Me. 

###### 7
So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside. 

###### 8
I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs, And I will tear open the chest _enclosing_ their heart; There I will also devour them like a lioness, _As_ a beast of the field would rip them open. 

###### 9
_It is_ your ruin, O Israel, That _you are_ against Me, against your help. 

###### 10
Where now is your king, That he may save you in all your cities, And your judges of whom you said, "Give me a king and princes"? 

###### 11
I gave you a king in My anger And took him away in My wrath. 

###### 12
The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; His sin is stored up. 

###### 13
The pains of childbirth come upon him; He is not a wise son, For it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb. 

###### 14
Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight. 

###### 15
Though he is fruitful among the reeds, An east wind will come, The wind of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will become dry, And his spring will be dried up; It will plunder _his_ treasury of every desirable article. 

###### 16
Samaria will be held guilty, For she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; Their infants will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped open.