1 “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.
2 They don’t realize that I rememberall the evil things they’ve done.Now their sins surround them.Their sins are in my presence.
3 “They make kings happy with the wicked things they do.They make officials happy with the lies they tell.
4 They all commit adultery.They are like a heated oven,an oven so hot that a baker doesn’t have to fan its flameswhen he makes bread.
5 On the day of the king’s celebration,the officials become drunk from wine,and the king joins mockers.
6 They become hot like an oven while they lie in ambush.All night long their anger smolders,but in the morning it burns like a raging fire.
7 They are all as hot as an oven.They consume their judges ⌊like a fire⌋.All their kings die in battle, and none of them calls to me.