7:1  whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
They practice deceit,
thieves break into houses,
bandits rob in the streets;

7:2  but they do not realize
that I remember all their evil deeds.
Their sins engulf them;
they are always before me.

7:3  "They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.

7:4  They are all adulterers,
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

7:5  On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,
and he joins hands with the mockers.

7:6  Their hearts are like an oven;
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

7:7  All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,
and none of them calls on me.

7:8  "Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over.

7:9  Foreigners sap his strength,
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.

7:10  Israel's arrogance testifies against him,
but despite all this
he does not return to the LORD his God
or search for him.

7:11  "Ephraim is like a dove,
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
now turning to Assyria.

7:12  When they go, I will throw my net over them;
I will pull them down like birds of the air.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.

7:13  Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak lies against me.

7:14  They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail upon their beds.
They gather together for grain and new wine
but turn away from me.

7:15  I trained them and strengthened them,
but they plot evil against me.

7:16  They do not turn to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
For this they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.