1 ARST Yahweh says, “When the leaders of Israel spoke, the people trembled; they were respected in Israel. But because they all worshiped Baal, they became guilty, and they died. BSB BSB: When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal, and he died.
2 ARST Now they sin more and more; they make cast metal figures out of silver to make them their idols. Those idols are statues that are very cleverly made, but those statues are made only by craftsmen. But other people see that the men of Israel sacrifice to these calf-idols and kiss them to worship them. BSB BSB: Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!”
3 ARST So the people of Israel will disappear as quickly as the clouds that form in the morning, as quickly as the dew, when the sun dries it up. They will disappear as easily as the chaff that the wind blows away from the threshing place. They will disappear as easily as the smoke that goes out of the chimney. BSB BSB: Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.
4 ARST But I am Yahweh, whom you should worship; I am the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You must worship no other God; you must worship only Me. There is no one else who can rescue you. BSB BSB: Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.
5 ARST I took charge of you in the wilderness, in a desert where there was no water to drink. BSB BSB: I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.
6 ARST When I provided food for you, you ate as much as you wanted and were satisfied. But when you were no longer hungry, you became proud and forgot about me. BSB BSB: When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
7 ARST So I will attack you like a lion; I will attack you like a leopard that waits beside the road to suddenly jump on a traveler. BSB BSB: So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 ARST I will come against you like a female bear when someone steals her cubs, and I will rip open your chests. Like a lion that attacks— as a wild animal would tear you apart. BSB BSB: Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart.
9 ARST You people of Israel, I will destroy you. No one will be able to help you. BSB BSB: You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me—against your helper.
10 ARST You no longer have any king who can save you in any of your cities. You no longer have any of the rulers whom you asked me to give you. BSB BSB: Where is your king now to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”?
11 ARST When I gave you a king, I gave him to you because I was angry with you. And because I was angry with you, I took your kings away. BSB BSB: So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away.
12 ARST I have kept track of all the wicked deeds that you people of Israel have committed; I have recorded all your guilt. BSB BSB: The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is stored up.
13 ARST You are like a baby ready to be born, but you are foolish, because you are like a child who refuses to be born. BSB BSB: Labor pains come upon him, but he is an unwise son. When the time arrives, he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb.
14 ARST Will I really keep you from dying? Will I rescue you from dying? No! I will let you die I will let you perish. I have no more compassion left for you.” BSB BSB: I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
15 ARST The prophet Hosea says: “Even though you people of Israel are wealthier than those of Judah, the day is coming when Yahweh will destroy you. You will meet disaster. Your enemies will take everything valuable away from you. BSB BSB: Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.
16 ARST The people of the city of Samaria are guilty because they have rebelled against God. Their enemies will kill them with swords. they will thrown their children far down to the ground and kill them; they will rip open their pregnant women.” BSB BSB: Samaria will bear her guilt because 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.