^{2 [4]} Contend with your mother, contend,
for she is not my ishshah,
neither am I her ish;
and let her put away her prostitution from her face,
and her adulteries from between her breasts;
^3[5] Lest I strip her naked,
and make her bare as in the day that she was born,
and make her ka-midbar,
and set her like a dry eretz,
and kill her with thirst.
^4[6] Indeed, on her banim I will have no mercy;
for they are banim of unfaithfulness;
^{5 [7]} For their mother has played the prostitute.
She who conceived them has done shamefully;
for she said, 'I will go after my lovers,
who give me my lechem and my mayim,
my wool and my flax, my shemen and my drink.'
^{6 [8]} Therefore hinneh, I will hedge up your derekh with thorns,
and I will build a wall against her,
that she can't find her way.
^{7 [9]} She will follow after her lovers,
but she won't overtake them;
and she will seek them,
but won't find them.
Then she will say, 'I will go
and return to my ish ha-rishon;
for then was it better with me than now.'
^{8 [10]} For she didn't know
that I gave her the grain, ha-tirosh, and the oil,
and multiplied to her kesef v'zahav, which they used for Ba`al.
<sup>9 [11]</sup> Therefore I will take back
my grain in its time,
and my tirosh in its season,
and will pluck away my wool and my flax,
which should have covered her nakedness.
<sup>10 [12]</sup> Now I will uncover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one will deliver her out of my hand.
<sup>11 [13]</sup> I will also cause her mirth to cease:
her chagim, her chadashot, her Shabbatot,
and all her mo`adim.
^{12 [14]} I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
about which she has said,
'These are my wages
that my lovers have given me;
and I will make them a forest,'
and chayyot ha-sadeh shall eat them.
^{13 [15]} I will visit on her y'mei ha-B`alim,
to which she burned incense,
when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels,
and went after her lovers,
and forgot me," n'um-YHWH.

^{2:14 [16]} "Therefore behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into ha-midbar,
and speak tenderly to her.
^{15 [17]} I will give her vineyards from there,
and the valley of `Achor l'petach tikvah;
and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth,
and as in the day when she came up out me-eretz Mitzrayim.

^{2:21 [23]} V'hayah ba-yom ha-hu, I will respond," n'um-YHWH,
"I will respond to ha-shamayim,
and they will respond to ha-aretz;
^{22 [24]} v'ha-aretz will respond to the grain, and ha-tirosh, and the oil;
and they will respond to Yizr`el.
<sup>23 [25]</sup> I will sow her to me ba-aretz;
and I will have mercy on her who lo-ruchamah;
and I will tell those who were lo-`ammi, '`Ammi attah;'
and they will say, 'Elohai!' "

^4:1 Hear d'var YHWH, beit Yisra'el;
for YHWH has a charge against the inhabitants of ha-aretz:
"Ki ein emet v'ein chesed,
and no knowledge of Elohim ba-aretz,
² There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.
³ Therefore ha-aretz will mourn,
and everyone who dwells in it will waste away,
with all living things in her,
b'chayyat ha-sadeh and the birds of ha-shamayim,
v'gam d'gei ha-yam also die.

^4:4 "Yet let no man bring a charge,
neither let any man accuse;
for your people are like those who bring charges against a kohen.
⁵ You will stumble in ha-yom,
and the prophet will also stumble with you by lailah;
and I will destroy your mother.
⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I will also reject you, that you may be no kohen to me.
Because you have forgotten Torat Eloheikha,
I will also forget your banim.
⁷ As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me.
I will change their kavod into shame.
⁸ They feed on the sin of my people,
and set their heart on their iniquity.
⁹ It will be, like people, like kohen;
and I will punish them for their ways,
and will repay them for their deeds.
¹⁰ They will eat, and not have enough.
They will play the prostitute, and will not increase;
because they have abandoned giving to YHWH.
¹¹ Prostitution, yayin v'tirosh take away understanding.
¹² My people consult with their wooden idol,
and answer to a stick of wood.
Indeed the ruach of prostitution has led them astray,
and they have been unfaithful to Eloheihem.
¹³ `Al roshei he-harim they sacrifice,
and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths,
because its shade is good.
Therefore your banot play the prostitute,
and your brides commit adultery.
¹⁴ I will not punish your banot when they play the prostitute,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
because the men consort with prostitutes,
and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes;
so the people without understanding will come to ruin.

^4:15 "Though you, Yisra'el, play the prostitute,
yet don't let Y'hudah offend;
and don't come to Gilgal,
neither go up to Beit Aven,
nor swear, 'As YHWH lives.'
¹⁶ For Yisra'el has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer.
Then how will YHWH feed them like a lamb in a meadow.
¹⁷ Efrayim is joined to idols.
Leave him alone!
¹⁸ Their drink has become sour.
They play the prostitute continually.
Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.
¹⁹ The ruach has wrapped her up in its kanfot;
and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices.

^5:1 "Listen to this, ha-kohanim!
Listen, beit Yisra'el,
and give ear, beit ha-melekh!
For ha-mishhpat is against you;
for you have been a snare at Mitzpah,
and a net spread `al-Tavor.
² The rebels are deep in slaughter;
but I discipline all of them.
³ I know Efrayim,
and Yisra'el is not hidden from me;
for now, Efrayim, you have played the prostitute.
Yisra'el is defiled.
⁴ Their deeds won't allow them to turn to Eloheihem;
ki ruach of prostitution is within them,
and they don't know YHWH.
⁵ The pride of Yisra'el testifies to his face.
Therefore Yisra'el v'Efrayim will stumble in their iniquity.
Y'hudah also will stumble with them.
⁶ They will go with their flocks and with their herds
to seek YHWH;
but they won't find him.
He has withdrawn himself from them.
⁷ They are unfaithful to YHWH;
for they have borne illegitimate banim.
Now the chodesh (moon) will devour them with their portions.

^5:8 "Blow shofar b'Giv`ah,
and the trumpet ba-Ramah!
Sound a battle cry at Beit Aven,
behind you, Binyamin!
⁹ Efrayim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke.
Among the tribes of Yisra'el, I have made known that which will surely be.
¹⁰ Sarei Y'hudah are like those who remove a landmark.
I will pour out my wrath on them ka-mayim.
¹¹ Efrayim is oppressed,
he is crushed in judgment;
Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
¹² Therefore I am to Efrayim like a moth,
and to beit Y'hudah like rottenness.

^5:13 "When Efrayim saw his sickness,
v'Y'hudah his wound,
Then Efrayim went el-Ashshur,
and sent el-melekh Yarev:
but he is not able to heal you,
neither will he cure you of your wound.
¹⁴ For I will be to Efrayim like a lion,
and like a young lion to beit Y'hudah.
I myself will tear in pieces and go away.
I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
¹⁵ I will go and return to my place,
until they acknowledge their offense,
and seek my face.
In their affliction they will seek me earnestly."

^6:1 "Come! Let's return to YHWH;
for he has torn us to pieces,
and he will heal us;
he has injured us,
and he will bind up our wounds.
² After two days he will revive us.
On the third day he will raise us up,
and we will live before him.
³ Let's acknowledge YHWH.
Let's press on to know YHWH.
Ka-shachar, so sure is his going forth.
YHWH will appear.
He will come to us like the rain,
like the spring rain that waters aretz."

^6:4 "What shall I do to you, Efrayim?
What shall I do to you, Y'hudah?
For your chesed is like a cloud of boqer,
and like the dew that disappears early.
⁵ Therefore I have cut them to pieces with ha-n'vi'im;
I killed them with the words of my mouth.
Your mishpat is like a flash of lightning.
⁶ Ki chesed I desire, v'lo zavach;
and the knowledge of Elohim more than olot.
⁷ But they, ka-adam, have broken b'rit.
They have dealt treacherously with me there.
⁸ Gil`ad is a city of those who work iniquity;
it is stained with blood.
⁹ As g'dudim wait for a man (to ambush),
so the company of kohanim murder (on the) derekh (toward) Sh'khem,
commit shameful crimes.
¹⁰ B'veit Yisra'el I have seen a horrible thing.
There is harlotry l'Efrayim.
Yisra'el is defiled.

^6:11 "Gam-Y'hudah, there is a harvest appointed for you,
when I restore the fortunes of `ammi.

^7:1 When I would heal Yisra'el,
then the iniquity of Efrayim is uncovered,
also the wickedness of Shomron;
for they commit falsehood,
and the thief enters in,
and the gadud ravages outside.
² They don't consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their own deeds have engulfed them.
They are before my face.
³ They make melekh glad with their lying,
and the sarim with their lies.
⁴ They are all adulterers.
They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring,
from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.
⁵ On the day of our melekh, the sarim
made themselves sick with the heat of yayin.
He stretched out his hand with mockers.
⁶ For they have prepared their heart like an oven,
while they lie in wait.
Their baker sleeps kol-ha-lailah.
Boqer it burns as a flaming fire.
⁷ They are all hot as an oven,
and devour their judges.
All their m'lakhim have fallen.
There is no one among them who calls to me.
⁸ Efrayim, he mixes himself ba-`ammim.
Efrayim is a cake not turned over.
⁹ Strangers have devoured his strength,
and he doesn't realize it.
Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him, and he doesn't realize it.
¹⁰ The pride of Yisra'el testifies to his face;
yet they haven't returned el-YHWH Eloheihem,
nor sought him, for all this.

^7:11 "Efrayim is like an easily deceived yonah, without understanding.
They call to Mitzrayim.
They go to Ashshur.
¹² When they go, I will spread my net on them.
I will bring them down like the birds of ha-shamayim.
I will chastise them, as their edah has heard.
¹³ Oy to them!
For they have wandered from me.
Destruction to them!
For they have trespassed against me.
Though I would redeem them,
yet they have spoken lies against me.
¹⁴ They haven't cried to me with their heart,
but they howl on their beds.
They assemble themselves for grain and tirosh.
They turn away from me.
¹⁵ Though I have taught and strengthened their arms,
yet they plot evil against me.
¹⁶ They return, but not upward.
They are like a faulty bow.
Their sarim will fall by the sword for the rage of their lashon.
This will be their derision b'eretz Mitzrayim.

^8:1 "Put the shofar to your lips!
Something like an eagle is over beit YHWH,
because they have broken my b'rit,
and rebelled against my Torah.
² They cry to me, 'Elohai,
we Yisra'el acknowledge you!'
³ Yisra'el has cast off that which is good.
The enemy will pursue him.

⁴ They have set up kings, but not by me.
They have made princes, and I didn't approve.
Of their kesef and their zahav they have made themselves idols,
that they may be cut off.
⁵ Let Shomron throw out his calf idol!
My anger burns against them!
How long will it be until they are capable of purity?
⁶ For this is even from Yisra'el!
The workman made it,
lo elohim hu;
indeed, the calf of Shomron
shall be broken in pieces.
⁷ For they sow ruach,
and they will reap the whirlwind.
He has no standing grain.
The stalk will yield no head.
If it does yield,
strangers will swallow it up.
⁸ Yisra'el is swallowed up.
Now they are ba-goyim
like a worthless thing.
⁹ For they have gone up to Ashshur,
like a wild donkey wandering alone.
Efrayim has hired lovers for himself.
¹⁰ But although they sold themselves ba-goyim,
I will now gather them;
but first they will be humbled somewhat
because of the oppression of the melekh (and) sarim.

¹¹ Because Efrayim has multiplied mizb'chot for sinning,
they became for him mizb'chot for sinning.
¹² I wrote for him the many things of my Torah;
but they were regarded as a strange thing.
¹³ As for the sacrifices of my offerings,
they sacrifice basar and eat it;
But YHWH doesn't accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity,
and punish their chata'im.
They will return to Mitzrayim.
¹⁴ For Yisra'el has forgotten his Maker
and built heikhalot;
v'Y'hudah has multiplied fortified cities;
but I will send a fire on his cities,
and it will devour his citadels."

^9:1 Don't rejoice, Yisra'el,
el-gil ka-`ammim; for you were unfaithful me-`al Eloheikha.
You love the wages of a prostitute
at every grain threshing floor.
² The threshing floor and the wine press won't feed them,
v'tirosh will fail her.
³ They won't dwell b'eretz YHWH;
but Efrayim will return to Mitzrayim,
and they will eat unclean food in Ashshur.
⁴ They won't pour out la-YHWH yayin,
neither will they be pleasing to him.
Their sacrifices will be to them like lekhem of mourners;
all who eat of it will be polluted;
for their lekhem will be for their nefesh [appetite].
It will not come into beit YHWH.

⁵ What will you do l'yom mo'ed,
u'l'yom chag YHWH?
⁶ Ki-hinneh, they have gone away from destruction.
Mitzrayim will gather them up.
Mof [Memphis] will bury them.
Nettles will possess their pleasant things of kesef.
Thorns will be in their tents.

⁷ The days of visitation have come.
The days of reckoning have come.
Yisra'el will know it.  Ha-navi is a fool,
m'shuggah ish ha-ruach [the man of the spirit is mad]!
Because of the abundance of your sins,
the enmity is great.
⁸ Efrayim was a watchman with Elohai, navi.
A fowler's snare is on all of his paths,
and hostility b'veit Elohav.
⁹ They have deeply corrupted themselves,
b'y'mei ha-Giv`ah.
He will remember their iniquity.
He will punish them for their chata'im.

¹⁰ Like grapes ba-midbar,
I found Yisra'el.
As the first ripe
in the fig tree at its first season,
I saw avoteikhem;
but they came to B`al P'or,
and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing,
and became abominable like that which they loved.
¹¹ (As for) Efrayim, their kavod will fly away like a bird.
There will be no birth, no one with child, and no conception.
¹² Though they bring up their banim,
yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left.
Indeed, gam-oy to them
when I depart from them!
¹³ I have seen Efrayim, like Tzor, planted in a pleasant place;
but Efrayim will bring out his banim to the murderer.
¹⁴ Give them—YHWH, what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

^9:15 "All their wickedness is ba-Gilgal;
for there I hated them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds,
I will drive them out of my bayit!
I will love them no more.
All their sarim are rebels.

¹⁶ Efrayim is struck.
Their root has dried up.
They will bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb."
^9:17 Elohai will cast them away,
because they didn't listen to him;
and they will be wanderers ba-goyim.

^10:1 Yisra'el is a luxuriant vine that produces his fruit.
According to the abundance of his fruit
he has multiplied his mizb'chot.
As their eretz has prospered,
they have adorned their sacred stones.
² Their heart is divided.
Now they will be found guilty.
He will demolish their mizb'chot.
He will destroy their sacred stones.
³ Surely now they will say,
"(There is) ein melekh to us;
for we don't fear YHWH;
v'ha-melekh, what can he do for us?"
⁴ They make promises,
swearing falsely in cutting b'rit.
Therefore mishpat springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the sadeh.
⁵ The inhabitants of Shomron will be in terror
for the calves of Beit Aven;
for its people will mourn over it,
along with its priests who rejoiced over it,
for its kavod, because it has departed from it.
⁶ It also will be carried l'Ashshur
for a minchah l'melekh yarav.
Efrayim will receive shame,
and Yisra'el will be ashamed of his own counsel.

⁷ Shomron (and her) melekh will be cut off,
like a twig `al-p'nei mayim.
⁸ The high places also of Aven, chattat Yisra'el,
will be destroyed.
The thorn and the thistle will come up on their mizb'chot.
They will say le-harim, "Cover us!"
and the hills, "Fall on us!"

^10:9 "M'y'mei ha-Giv`ah, chattat, Yisra'el.
There they remained.
The battle against the children of iniquity doesn't overtake them ba-Giv`ah.
¹⁰ When it is my desire, I will chastise them;
and the peoples will be gathered against them,
when they are bound to their two transgressions.

¹¹ Efrayim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck.
I will set a rider on Efrayim.
Y'hudah will plow.
Ya`akov will break his clods.
¹² Sow to yourselves li-tz'dakah,
reap according to chesed.
Break up your fallow ground;
for it is time to seek YHWH,
until he comes and rains tzedek on you.
¹³ You have plowed wickedness.
You have reaped iniquity.
You have eaten the fruit of lies,
for you trusted in your way,
in the multitude of your gibborim.
¹⁴ Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people,
and all your citadels will be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beit Arbel in the day of battle.
The mother was dashed in pieces with her banim.
¹⁵ So Beit-El will do to you
because of your great wickedness.
Ba-shachar, melekh Yisra'el will be destroyed.

^11:1 "When Yisra'el was a child, then I loved him,
u'mi-Mitzrayim I called my son.
² They called to them,
so they went from them.
They sacrificed la-b`alim, and burned incense to engraved images.

³ Yet I taught Efrayim to walk.
I took them by his arms;
but they didn't know that I healed them.
⁴ I drew them with cords of a man,
with ties of love;
and I was to them like those
who lift up the yoke on their necks;
and I bent down to him and I fed him.

^11:5 "They won't return el-eretz Mitzrayim;
v'Ashshur will be their melekh,
because they refused to repent.
⁶ The sword will fall on their cities,
and will destroy the bars of their gates,
and will put an end to their plans.
⁷ My people are determined to turn from me.
Though they call to the Most High,
he certainly won't exalt them.

^11:8 "How can I give you up, Efrayim?
How can I hand you over, Yisra'el?
How can I make you ka-Admah?
How can I make you ki-Tz'vo'im?
My heart is turned within me,
my compassion is aroused.
⁹ I will not execute the fierceness of my anger.
I will not return to destroy Efrayim:
ki El anochi, v'lo-ish;
Kadosh among you;
and I will not come in wrath.

¹⁰ Acharei YHWH they shall walk,
who will roar like a lion;
for he will roar,
and banim mi-yam will come trembling.
¹¹ They will come trembling like a bird mi-Mitzrayim,
and like a yonah me-eretz Ashshur;
and I will settle them in their batim," says YHWH.

^{11:12 [12:1 in Heb.]} Efrayim surrounds me with falsehood,
and beit Yisra'el with deceit.
Y'hudah still wanders `im-El,
v`im-K'doshim, (who is) ne'eman.

^{12:1 [2]} Efrayim strives after ruach,
and chases the east wind.
He continually multiplies lies and desolation.
They make a b'rit `im-Ashshur,
v'shemen l'Mitzrayim is carried.

^{2 [3]} YHWH also has a controversy `im-Y'hudah,
and will punish Ya`akov according to his ways;
according to his deeds he will repay him.
^{3 [4]} In the womb he took his brother by the heel;
and in his manhood he contended et-Elohim.
^{4 [5]} Indeed, he struggled et-mal'akh, and prevailed;
he wept, and made supplication to him.
He found him at Beit-El,
and there he spoke with us,
^{5 [6]} va-YHWH, Elohei ha-tz'va'ot;
YHWH is his memorial!
^{6 [7]} Therefore turn to Eloheikha.
Keep chesed u'mishpat,
and wait el-Eloheikha tamid.

^{12:7 [8]} A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand.
He loves to defraud.
^{8 [9]} Vayomer Efrayim, "Surely I have become rich,
I have found myself wealth.
In all my wealth they won't find in me
any iniquity asher chet."
^{12:9 [10]} "V'anochi YHWH Eloheikha
me-eretz Mitzrayim.
I will yet again make you dwell ba-ohalim,
k'y'mei mo`ed.

^{10 [11]} I have also spoken `al-ha-n'vi'im,
and I have multiplied visions;
and by the ministry of ha-n'vi'im I have used parables.
<sup>12:11 [12]</sup> Im-Gil`ad is wicked,
surely they are worthless.
Ba-Gilgal they sacrifice bulls.
Indeed, their mizb'chot are like heaps
in the furrows of sadeh.
^{12 [13]} Ya`acov fled into sadeh Aram,
and Yisra'el served to get an ishshah,
and for an ishshah he tended (sheep).
^{13 [14]} By a navi, YHWH brought Yisra'el mi-Mitzrayim,
and by a navi he was preserved.
^{14 [15]} Efrayim has bitterly provoked anger.
Therefore his blood will be left on him,
and his Adon will repay his contempt.

^13:1 When Efrayim spoke, there was trembling.
He exalted himself b'Yisra'el,
but when he became guilty ba-ba`al, he died.
² Now they sin more and more,
and have made themselves molten images of their kesef,
even idols according to their own understanding,
all of them the work of the craftsmen.
They say of them, 'They who sacrifice men kiss calves.'
³ Therefore they will be like the cloud of boqer,
and like the dew that passes away early,
like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor,
and like the smoke out of the chimney.

^13:4 "V'anochi YHWH Eloheikha,
me-eretz Mitzrayim
and you shall acknowledge no elohim but me,
and moshi`a, none but me.
<sup>5</sup> I knew you ba-midbar,
b'eretz of great drought.
<sup>6</sup> According to their pasture, so were they filled;
they were filled, and their heart was exalted.
Therefore they have forgotten me.
<sup>7</sup> Therefore I am like a lion to them.
Like a leopard, I will lurk `al-derekh.
⁸ I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs,
and will tear the covering of their heart.
There I will devour them like a lioness.
The wild animal will tear them.

⁹ You are destroyed, Yisra'el,
because you are against me, against your help.
¹⁰ Where is your melekh now, that he may save you
in all your cities?
And your shoftim, of whom you said,
'Give me now melekh v'sarim?'
¹¹ I have given you a melekh in my anger,
and have taken him away in my wrath.

¹² The guilt of Efrayim is stored up.
His chattat is stored up.
¹³ The pains of childbirth will come on him.
He is an unwise son;
for when it is time, he doesn't come
to the opening of the womb.

¹⁴ Mi-yad sh'ol I will ransom them.
I will redeem them mi-mavet!
Where are your plagues, mavet?
Where is your destruction, sh'ol?
"Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵ Though he is fruitful among his brothers,
qadim [east] (wind) will come, ruach YHWH
mi-midbar coming;
and his spring will become dry,
and his fountain will be dried up.
He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.

^{16 [14:1 in Heb.]} Shomron will bear her guilt;
for she has rebelled b'Eloheiha.
They will fall by the sword.
Their infants will be dashed in pieces,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open."

^{14:1 [2]} Return, Yisra'el, ad-YHWH Eloheikha;
for you have fallen because of your sin.
^{2 [3]} Take d'varim with you, and return to YHWH.
Tell him,
"Forgive all our iniquity,
and accept that which is good:
so we offer our lips like bulls.
^{3 [4]} Ashshur can't save us.
We won't ride on horses;
neither will we say any more 'eloheinu!'
to the work of our hands,
for in you the fatherless finds mercy."

^{14:4 [5]} "I will heal their waywardness.
I will love them freely;
for my anger is turned away from him.
^{5 [6]} I will be like the dew l'Yisra'el.
He will blossom like the lily,
and send down his roots like L'vanon.
^{6 [7]} His branches will spread,
and his beauty will be k'zayit,
and his fragrance like L'vanon.
^{7 [8]} Men will dwell in his shade.
They will revive like the grain,
and blossom ka-gefen.
Their fragrance will be k'yayin L'vanon.
^{8 [9]} Efrayim, what have I to do any more with idols?
I answer, and will take care of him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
from me your fruit is found."

^{14:9 [10]} Who is chakham, that he may understand these things?
Who is prudent, that he may know them?
For the ways of YHWH are right,
v'tzaddikim walk in them;
But the rebellious stumble in them.