Study Desk

For Isra'el forgot his maker and built palaces; and Y'hudah made more fortified cities; but I will send fire on his cities, and it will consume their strongholds."

Don't rejoice, Isra'el! Don't enjoy yourselves as other peoples do; for you have gone whoring away from your God, you love being hired as a whore on every grain-floor.

They will not pour out wine offerings to Adonai ; they will not be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be for them like mourners' food — everyone eating it will be polluted. For their food will be merely to satisfy their appetite; it will not come into the house of Adonai .

What will you do at a designated time, on a day which is a festival for Adonai ?

For suppose they escape the destruction — Egypt will round them up, Memphis will bury them. And their precious treasures of silver? Nettles will possess them, thorns will be in their tents.

For now they will say, "We have no king, because we didn't fear Adonai — and what could a king do for us, anyway?"

It will be carried to Ashur as a present for a warring king. Efrayim will be put to shame, and Isra'el be ashamed of his own advice.

"Since the days of Giv‘ah you have sinned, Isra'el. There they took their stand. For these arrogant people at Giv‘ah, war was insufficient punishment.

When I wish to, I will discipline them; and the peoples will be gathered against them to discipline them for their two crimes."

If you sow righteousness for yourselves, you will reap according to grace. Break up unused ground for yourselves, because it is time to seek Adonai , till he comes and rains down righteousness upon you.

I will not give vent to the fierceness of my rage, I will not return to destroy Efrayim; for I am God, not a human being, the Holy One among you; so I will not come in fury.

They will go after Adonai , who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.

class="poetry"> "When Isra'el was a child, I loved him; and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more [the prophets] called them, the farther they went from them. They sacrificed to the ba‘alim and offered incense to idols. "Yet it was I who taught Efrayim to walk; I took them by their arms. But they did not know that it was I who was healing them, who was guiding them on through human means with reins made of love. With them I was like someone removing the yoke from their jaws, and I bent down to feed them. He will not return to the land of Egypt, but Ashur will be his king, because they refused to repent. The sword will fall on his cities, destroying the bars of his gates, because they follow their own advice. My people are hanging in suspense about returning to me; and though they call them upwards, nobody makes a move. Efrayim, how can I give you up, or surrender you, Isra'el? How could I treat you like Admah or make you like Tzvoyim? My heart recoils at the idea, as compassion warms within me. I will not give vent to the fierceness of my rage, I will not return to destroy Efrayim; for I am God, not a human being, the Holy One among you; so I will not come in fury. They will go after Adonai , who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west. They will tremble like a bird as they come from Egypt, like a dove as they come from the land of Ashur; and I will resettle them in their own houses, says Adonai .

Adonai also has a grievance against Y'hudah; he will punish Ya‘akov according to his ways and pay him back for his misdeeds.

Ya‘akov fled to the land of Aram. There Isra'el slaved to win a wife; for a wife he tended sheep.

By a prophet Adonai brought Isra'el up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was protected. Efrayim has given bitter provocation, so the penalty for his bloodshed will be thrown down on him, and his Lord will repay him for his insult.

So now they keep adding sin to sin, casting images from their silver; idols they invent for themselves, all of them the work of craftsmen. ‘Sacrifice to them,' they say. Men give kisses to calves!

For though he flourishes among the reeds, an east wind will come, a wind from Adonai , blowing up from the desert. Then his water source will dry up, then his spring will fail — it will plunder his treasury, removing every precious thing."

lass="poetry"> "When Efrayim spoke, there was trembling; he was a power in Isra'el. But when he incurred guilt through Ba‘al, he died. So now they keep adding sin to sin, casting images from their silver; idols they invent for themselves, all of them the work of craftsmen. ‘Sacrifice to them,' they say. Men give kisses to calves! Therefore they will be like a morning cloud, like the dew that disappears early, like chaff blown by wind from the threshing-floor, or like smoke that goes out the window. Still, I am Adonai your God, from the land of Egypt; and you don't know any God but me or, other than me, any Savior. I knew you in the desert, in a land of terrible drought. When they were fed, they were satisfied; when satisfied, they became proud. Therefore they forgot me. So now I have become like a lion to them; like a leopard I will lurk by the road; I will meet them like a bear whose cubs have been taken away. I will tear their hearts from their bodies. I will devour them there like a lion, like a wild animal ripping them up. It is your destruction, Isra'el, although your help is in me. So now, where is your king, to save you in all your cities? Where are your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and leaders'? I gave you a king in my anger; and in my fury I took him away. "Efrayim's guilt has been wrapped up, his sin is stored away. The pain of being born will come to him; but he is an unwise son. The time has come; and he shouldn't delay, there at the mouth of the womb. Should I ransom them from the power of Sh'ol? Should I redeem them from death? Where are your plagues, death; where is your destruction, Sh'ol? My eyes are closed to compassion. For though he flourishes among the reeds, an east wind will come, a wind from Adonai , blowing up from the desert. Then his water source will dry up, then his spring will fail — it will plunder his treasury, removing every precious thing."

Shomron will bear her guilt, for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword, their little ones will be dashed to pieces and their pregnant women ripped open.