God’s Anger against Israel 1When Ephraima spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal, 2Now 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!”b 3Therefore 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. 4Yet 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. 5I knew you in the wilderness, 6When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me. 7So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path. 8Like 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 would tear them apart. Death and Resurrection 9You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me— to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, 11So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away. 12The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; 13Labor 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. 14I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death.d Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting?e Compassion is hidden from My eyes. Judgment on Samaria 15Although 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. 16Samaria 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. Footnotes: 1 a That is, the northern kingdom of Israel; also in verse 12 2 b Or “The men who sacrifice kiss the calves!” See 1 Kings 19:18. 10 c Or Shall I be your King now 14 d Or Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? 14 e LXX Where, O Death, is your penalty? Where, O Hades, is your sting? Cited in 1 Corinthians 15:55 |