God’s Anger against Israel

13 When Ephraim[fn] spoke, there was trembling;

he was exalted in Israel.

But he incurred guilt through Baal,

and he died.

2 Now they sin more and more

and make for themselves cast images,

idols skillfully made from their silver,

all of them the work of craftsmen.

People say of them,

“They offer human sacrifice

[and] kiss the calves!”[fn]

3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,

like the early dew that vanishes,

like chaff blown from a threshing floor,

like smoke through an open window.

4 Yet I [am] the LORD your God

ever since the land of Egypt;

you know no God but Me,

for [there is] no Savior besides Me.

5 I knew you in the wilderness,

in the land of drought.

6 When they had pasture,

they became satisfied;

when they were satisfied,

their hearts became proud,

and as a result they forgot Me.

7 So like a lion I will pounce on them;

like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them,

and I will tear open their chests.

There I will devour them like a lion,

like a wild beast tearing them apart.