“What should I do with you, Ephraim? What should I do with you, Judah? Your love is like fog in the morning. It disappears as quickly as the morning dew.
“I wanted to treat you like children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful property among the nations. I thought that you would call me Father and wouldn’t turn away from me.
Recently, you changed and did what I consider right. You agreed to free your neighbors, and you made a promise in my presence, in the temple that is called by my name.
“Why should I forgive you? Your children abandoned me. They took godless oaths. They committed adultery, even though I satisfied their needs. They traveled in crowds to the houses of prostitutes.
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboim? I have changed my mind. I am deeply moved.
That is why they will be like fog in the morning and like morning dew that disappears quickly. They will be like straw blown away from threshing floors. They will be like smoke rising from chimneys.
“Whenever I want to heal Israel, all I can see is Ephraim’s sin and Samaria’s wickedness. People cheat each other. They break into houses and steal. They rob people in the streets.
Since he doesn’t have any root, he lasts only a little while. When suffering or persecution comes along because of the word, he immediately falls ⌞from faith⌟.
Once again, the people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil. So the Lord made King Eglon of Moab stronger than Israel, because Israel did what the Lord considered evil.