3With their wickedness they make the king rejoice,

the princes too, with their treacherous deeds.

4They are all adulterers,*

like a blazing oven,

Which the baker quits stoking,

after the dough’s kneading until its rising.

5On the day of our king,

they made the princes sick with poisoned wine;

he extended his hand to the scoffers.

6For they draw near in ambush

with their hearts like an oven.

All the night their anger sleeps;

in the morning it flares like a blazing fire.

7They are all heated like ovens,

and consume their rulers.

All their kings have fallen;

none of them calls upon me.

8Ephraim is mixed with the nations,*

Ephraim is an unturned cake.

9Strangers have consumed his strength,

but he does not know it;c

Gray hairs are strewn on his head,

but he takes no notice of it.

10The arrogance of Israel bears witness against him;

yet they do not return to the Lord, their God,

nor seek him, despite all this.d

11Ephraim is like a dove,

silly and senseless;

They call upon Egypt,

they go to Assyria.

12When they go I will spread my net around them,

like birds in the air I will bring them down.e

I will chastise them when I hear of their assembly.

13Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!

Ruin to them, for they have rebelled against me!

Though I wished to redeem them,

they spoke lies against me.

14They have not cried to me from their hearts

when they wailed upon their beds;

For wheat and wine they lacerated themselves;*

they rebelled against me.

15Though I trained and strengthened their arms,

yet they devised evil against me.

16They have again become useless,

they have been like a treacherous bow.f

Their princes shall fall by the sword

because of the insolence of their tongues;

thus they shall be mocked in the land of Egypt.