But the sovereign of Ashshur found a conspiracy in Hoshĕa, for he had sent messengers to So, sovereign of Mitsrayim, and had not brought a present to the sovereign of Ashshur, as year by year. And the sovereign of Ashshur shut him up, and bound him in prison.
“And it shall be, when יהוה has performed all His work on Mount Tsiyon and on Yerushalayim, that I shall punish the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the sovereign of Ashshur, and the boasting of his haughty looks.
“Against a defiled nation I send him, and against the people of My wrath I command him to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mud of the streets.
The message concerning the beasts of the South. Through a land of trouble and distress, from which came the lioness and lion, the adder and fiery flying serpent, they convey their riches on the backs of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people,
“Tumult shall come to the ends of the earth, for יהוה has a controversy with the nations. He shall enter into judgment with all flesh. The wrong He shall give to the sword,’ declares יהוה.”
“And I shall punish her for the days of the Ba‛als to which she burned incense and adorned herself with her rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot Me,” declares יהוה.
Hear the word of יהוה, you children of Yisra’ĕl, for יהוה has a case against the inhabitants of the land: “For there is no truth or loving-commitment or knowledge of Elohim in the land.
“Whenever I would heal Yisra’ĕl, then the crookedness of Ephrayim is uncovered, and the evil deeds of Shomeron. For they have wrought falsehood, and a thief comes in, a band of robbers raids outside.
“Also, although they sold themselves among the nations, this time I shall gather them, when they have suffered for a while from the burden of a sovereign, of rulers.
“As for My slaughterings: they slaughter flesh and they eat. יהוה shall not accept them. Now does He remember their crookedness and punish their sins. Let them return to Mitsrayim!
“All their evil is in Gilgal, for there I have hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I drive them from My house, no more do I love them. All their rulers are rebels.
Thus said יהוה, “For three transgressions of Yehuḏah, and for four, I do not turn it back, because they have rejected the Torah of יהוה, and did not guard His laws. And their lies after which their fathers walked lead them astray.
“Hear, O you mountains, the controversy of יהוה, and you everlasting foundations of the earth! For יהוה has a controversy with His people and He shall reprove Yisra’ĕl.