Ephraim Rebuked for Falsehood and Oppression

121 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and pursueth after the east wind: all day long he multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt. 2 Jehovah hath also a controversy with Judah, and he will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. 3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he wrestled with God. 4 Yea, he wrestled with the Angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us, 5 —even Jehovah, the God of hosts,—Jehovah is his memorial. 6 And thou, return unto thy God: keep loving-kindness and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

7 [He is] a merchant, balances of deceit are in his hand; he loveth to oppress. 8 And Ephraim saith, Nevertheless I am become rich, I have found me out substance; in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin. 9 But I [that am] Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt will again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. 10 And I have spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and by means of the prophets have I used similitudes. 11 If Gilead is iniquity, surely they are but vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields. 12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept [sheep]. 13 And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. 14 Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly; and his Lord shall leave his blood upon him, and recompense unto him his reproach.

The Utter Destruction of Ephraim Foretold

131 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel: but he trespassed through Baal, and he died. 2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. 3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the lattice. 4 Yet I [am] Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou hast known no God but me; and there is no saviour besides me.

5 I knew thee in the wilderness, in the land of drought. 6 According to their pasture, they became full; they became full, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me. 7 And I will be unto them as a lion; as a leopard I will lurk for them by the way; 8 I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her [whelps], and will rend the covering of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lioness: the beast of the field shall tear them.

9 It is thy destruction, O Israel, that [thou art] against me, against thy help. 10 Where then is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?— 11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid by in store. 13 The pangs of a woman in travail shall come upon him: he is a son not wise; for at the time of the breaking forth of children, he was not there. 14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death: where, O death, are thy plagues? where, O Sheol, is thy destruction? Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. 15 Though he be fruitful among [his] brethren, an east wind shall come, a wind of Jehovah [that] cometh up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels. 16 Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Israel Entreated to Return to the LORD

141 O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2 Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah; say unto him, Forgive all iniquity, and receive [us] graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips. 3 Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, [Thou art] our God; because in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him. 5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. 6 His shoots shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. 7 They shall return and sit under his shadow; they shall revive [as] corn, and blossom as the vine: the renown thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols? (I answer [him], and I will observe him.) I am like a green fir-tree.—From me is thy fruit found. 9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? intelligent, and he shall know them? For the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein.

The Heavenly Worship

41 After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard as of a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will shew thee the things which must take place after these things. 2 Immediately I became in [the] Spirit; and behold, a throne stood in the heaven, and upon the throne one sitting, 3 and he [that was] sitting like in appearance to a stone [of] jasper and a sardius, and a rainbow round the throne like in appearance to an emerald. 4 And round the throne twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones twenty-four elders sitting, clothed with white garments; and on their heads golden crowns. 5 And out of the throne go forth lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and seven lamps of fire, burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne, as a glass sea, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, four living creatures, full of eyes, before and behind; 7 and the first living creature like a lion, and the second living creature like a calf, and the third living creature having the face as of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.

8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having respectively six wings; round and within they are full of eyes; and they cease not day and night saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come. 9 And when the living creatures shall give glory and honour and thanksgiving to him that sits upon the throne, who lives to the ages of ages, 10 the twenty-four elders shall fall before him that sits upon the throne, and do homage to him that lives to the ages of ages; and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O our Lord and [our] God, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy will they were, and they have been created.