I thought how I would set you among my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful heritage of all the nations. And I thought you would call to me, “My Father,” and would not turn from following me.
You yourselves recently repented and did what was right in my sight by proclaiming liberty to one another, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name,
How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of prostitutes.
How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.
Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes away early, like chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window.
when I would heal Israel, the corruption of Ephraim is revealed, and the wicked deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely; the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside.
yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.
The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.