Meet Blair Onyekanne

1  Ephraim feeds on the wind
    and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence;
    they make a covenant with Assyria,
    and oil is carried to Egypt.

The LORD's Indictment of Israel and Judah

2  The LORD has an indictment against Judah
    and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
    he will repay him according to his deeds.
3  In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
    and in his manhood he strove with God.
4  He strove with the angel and prevailed;
    he wept and sought his favor.
He met God ^{1 12:4 Hebrew him} at Bethel,
    and there God spoke with us—
5  the LORD, the God of hosts,
    the LORD is his memorial name:
6  “So you, by the help of your God, return,
    hold fast to love and justice,
    and wait continually for your God.”

7  A merchant, in whose hands are false balances,
    he loves to oppress.
8  Ephraim has said, “Ah, but I am rich;
    I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
9  I am the LORD your God
    from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you dwell in tents,
    as in the days of the appointed feast.

10  I spoke to the prophets;
    it was I who multiplied visions,
    and through the prophets gave parables.
11  If there is iniquity in Gilead,
    they shall surely come to nothing:
in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
    their altars also are like stone heaps
    on the furrows of the field.
12  Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
    there Israel served for a wife,
    and for a wife he guarded sheep.
13  By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt,
    and by a prophet he was guarded.
14  Ephraim has given bitter provocation;
    so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him
    and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

The LORD's Relentless Judgment on Israel

1  When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
    he was exalted in Israel,
    but he incurred guilt through Baal and 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!”
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.

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.
5  It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
6  but when they had grazed, ^{2 13:6 Hebrew according to their pasture} they became full,
    they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    therefore they forgot me.
7  So I am to them like a lion;
    like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
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.

9  He destroys ^{3 13:9 Or I will destroy} you, O Israel,
    for you are against me, against your helper.
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”?
11  I gave you a king in my anger,
    and I took him away in my wrath.

12  The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
    his sin is kept in store.
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.

14  I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    I shall redeem them from Death. ^{4 13:14 Or 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.

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.
16  ^{5 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Hebrew} 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.

A Plea to Return to the LORD

1  Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
    for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2  Take with you words
    and return to the LORD;
say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
accept what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    the vows ^{6 14:2 Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit} of our lips.
3  Assyria shall not save us;
    we will not ride on horses;
and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.”

4  I will heal their apostasy;
    I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
5  I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
6  his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7  They shall return and dwell beneath my ^{7 14:7 Hebrew his} shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8  O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you. ^{8 14:8 Hebrew him}
I am like an evergreen cypress;
    from me comes your fruit.

9  Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the LORD are right,
    and the upright walk in them,
    but transgressors stumble in them.