1 whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets;
2 but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king the princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers.
6 Their hearts are like an oven; they approach him with intrigue. Their passion smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.