13:1   When Ephraim spoke, people trembled He exalted himself in Israel, But through Baal he did wrong and died.

13:2  And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves molten images, Idols skillfully made from their silver, All of them the work of craftsmen They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!"

13:3  Therefore they will resemble the morning cloud And like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which blows away from the threshing floor And like smoke from a chimney.

13:4  Yet I have proclaimed myself the LORD your God Since the land of Egypt; And you would not know any god except Me, For no savior exists besides Me.

13:5  I cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought.

13:6  As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And having become satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore they forgot Me.

13:7  So I will resemble a lion to them; Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside.

13:8  I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs, And I will tear open their chests; There I will also devour them like a lioness, As a wild beast would tear them.

13:9  Your destruction has come, O Israel, That you rebel against Me, against your help.

13:10  Where now has your king gone That he may save you in all your cities, And your judges of whom you requested, "Give me a king and princes"?

13:11  I gave you a king in My anger And took him away in My wrath.

13:12  The iniquity of Ephraim has become bound up; His sin he has stored up.

13:13  The pains of childbirth come upon him; He has not proved a wise son, For the time has not come that he should delay at the opening of the womb.

13:14  Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where do we see your thorns? O Sheol, where do we feel your sting? Compassion will hide from My sight.

13:15  Though he flourishes among the reeds, An east wind will come, The wind of the LORD coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will become dry And his spring will dry up; It will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

13:16  Samaria will prove herself guilty, For she has rebelled against her God They will fall by the sword, Their little ones will they dash in pieces, And their pregnant women they will rip open.