English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
1
God once let loose against Ephraim a terrifying sentence against Israel: Caught and convicted in the lewd sex-worship of Baal - they died!
2 And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, "Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!"
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And now they're back in the sin business again, manufacturing god-images they can use, Religion customized to taste. Professionals see to it: Anything you want in a god you can get. Can you believe it? They sacrifice live babies to these dead gods - kill living babies and kiss golden calves!
3 Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window.
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And now there's nothing left to these people: hollow men, desiccated women, Like scraps of paper blown down the street, like smoke in a gusty wind.
4 But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.
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"I'm still your God, the God who saved you out of Egypt. I'm the only real God you've ever known. I'm the one and only God who delivers.
5 It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought;
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I took care of you during the wilderness hard times, those years when you had nothing.
6 but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.
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I took care of you, took care of all your needs, gave you everything you needed. You were spoiled. You thought you didn't need me. You forgot me.
7 So I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
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"I'll charge them like a lion, like a leopard stalking in the brush.
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open.
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I'll jump them like a sow grizzly robbed of her cubs. I'll rip out their guts. Coyotes will make a meal of them. Crows will clean their bones.
9 He destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper.
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I'm going to destroy you, Israel. Who is going to stop me?
10 Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities? Where are all your rulers-- those of whom you said, "Give me a king and princes"?
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Where is your trusty king you thought would save you? Where are all the local leaders you wanted so badly? All these rulers you insisted on having, demanding, 'Give me a king! Give me leaders!'?
11 I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath.
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Well, long ago I gave you a king, but I wasn't happy about it. Now, fed up, I've gotten rid of him.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is kept in store.
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I have a detailed record of your infidelities - Ephraim's sin documented and stored in a safe-deposit box.
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb.
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"When birth pangs signaled it was time to be born, Ephraim was too stupid to come out of the womb. When the passage into life opened up, he didn't show.
14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
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Shall I intervene and pull them into life? Shall I snatch them from a certain death? Who is afraid of you, Death? Who cares about your threats, Tomb? In the end I'm abolishing regret, banishing sorrow,
15 Though he may flourish among his brothers, the east wind, the wind of the LORD, shall come, rising from the wilderness, and his fountain shall dry up; his spring shall be parched; it shall strip his treasury of every precious thing.
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Even though Ephraim ran wild, the black sheep of the family. "God's tornado is on its way, roaring out of the desert. It will devastate the country, leaving a trail of ruin and wreckage. The cities will be gutted, dear possessions gone for good.
16 Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
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Now Samaria has to face the charges because she has rebelled against her God: Her people will be killed, babies smashed on the rocks, pregnant women ripped open." Come Back! Return to Your God!
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.