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7:1 when I heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are uncovered
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
They practice deceit;
the thief breaks in,
bandits rob outside;
2 but they do not consider
that I remember all their evil deeds.
Now their sins enclose them,
they are right in My face.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven,
whose fire the baker doesn’t need to stir
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
5 On the day of our king,
the princes are inflamed with skins of wine,
and he joins hands with mockers.
6 Their hearts are like an oven,
burning within them;
all night their anger smoulders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,
and none of them calls on Me.
8 “Ephraim mixes himself with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over.
9 Foreigners devour his strength,
but he does not notice.
His hair is sprinkled with grey,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,
yet he does not return to the Lord his God,
and in spite of all this,
he does not seek Him.
11 “Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—
now calling out to Egypt,
now turning to Assyria.
12 When they go, I will cast My net over them;
I will pull them down like birds of the air.
I will discipline them in accordance
with the news that reaches their assembly.
13 Woe to them,
for they have fled from Me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against Me!
I long to redeem them,
but they speak lies against Me.
14 They do not cry out to Me from their hearts,
but they wail upon their beds.
They assemble together for grain and new wine,
but turn away from Me.
15 It was I who trained and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil against Me.
16 They turn, but not to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of the cursing of their tongue.
They will be ridiculed for this
in the land of Egypt.