God

But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.

Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him and repay him for his contempt.

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.

I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.

When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.

So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

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 would tear them apart.

You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me— against your helper.

Where is your king now to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”?

So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away.

I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come— a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.

Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.

Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.

I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.

This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.

It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.

Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.

Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.