⁸ Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
    Ephraim is a cake not turned.
⁹ Strangers devour his strength,
    and he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
    and he knows it not.
¹⁰ The pride of Israel testifies to his face;^[a]
    yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
    nor seek him, for all this.

¹¹ Ephraim is like a dove,
    silly and without sense,
    calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
¹² As they go, I will spread over them my net;
    I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
    I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation.
¹³ Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
    Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
    but they speak lies against me.

¹⁴ They do not cry to me from the heart,
    but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
    they rebel against me.
¹⁵ Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
    yet they devise evil against me.
¹⁶ They return, but not upward;^[b]
    they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
    because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

⁴ They made kings, but not through me.
    They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
    for their own destruction.
⁵ I have^[c] spurned your calf, O Samaria.
    My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
⁶ For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
    it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
    shall be broken to pieces.^[d]

⁷ For they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
    it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
    strangers would devour it.
⁸ Israel is swallowed up;
    already they are among the nations
    as a useless vessel.
⁹ For they have gone up to Assyria,
    a wild donkey wandering alone;
    Ephraim has hired lovers.
¹⁰ Though they hire allies among the nations,
    I will soon gather them up.
And the king and princes shall soon writhe
    because of the tribute.

¹¹ Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
    they have become to him altars for sinning.
¹² Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
    they would be regarded as a strange thing.
¹³ As for my sacrificial offerings,
    they sacrifice meat and eat it,
    but the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins;
    they shall return to Egypt.
¹⁴ For Israel has forgotten his Maker
    and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
    so I will send a fire upon his cities,
    and it shall devour her strongholds.