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he was exalted in Israel.
But he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
2 Now they sin more and more,
and they make cast images for themselves,
idols made of silver cleverly crafted,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
People say of them,
“Let the men who sacrifice
kiss the calf-idols.”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that vanishes,
like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,
or like smoke escaping through a window.
4 “But I have been the Lord your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but Me,
and there no other Saviour besides Me.
5 I knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought.
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud;
then they forgot Me.
7 So I will become like a lion to them;
like a leopard, I will lurk along the path.
8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will attack them
and tear open the rib cage over their hearts.
Like a lion I will devour them;
like a wild beast, I will rip them open.
9 “I will destroy you, O Israel;
who is there to help you?
10 Where is your king now, that he may save you?
Where are the rulers in all your cities,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?
11 So I gave you a king in My anger,
and in My wrath I took him away.
12 The guilt of Ephraim is preserved;
his sins are stored up.
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth come on him,
but he is not a wise son;
when the time arrives,
he does not present himself at the opening of the womb.
14 “I will ransom them from the power of Sheol;
I will redeem them from death.
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your destruction?
“Compassion is hidden from My eyes,
15even though he flourishes among his brothers.
An east wind will come, a blast of wind from the Lord
arriving from the wilderness.
Then his springs of water will fail
and his well will dry up.
The wind will plunder
every treasure from his storehouse.
16 Samaria must bear her guilt,
because she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to pieces,
their pregnant women ripped open.