Page:JPS-1917-Universal.djvu/734

4.11 :Harlotry, wine, and new wine take away the heart.
 * My people ask counsel at their stock,
 * And their staff declareth unto them;
 * For the spirit of harlotry hath caused them to err,
 * And they have gone astray from under their God.
 * They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains,
 * And offer upon the hills,
 * Under oaks and poplars and terebinths,
 * Because the shadow thereof is good;
 * Therefore your daughters commit harlotry,
 * And your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
 * I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,
 * Nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery;
 * For they themselves consort with lewd women,
 * And they sacrifice with harlots;
 * And the people that is without understanding is distraught.


 * Though thou, Israel, play the harlot,
 * Yet let not Judah become guilty;
 * And come not ye unto Gilgal,
 * Neither go ye up to Beth-aven,
 * Nor swear: 'As the liveth.'
 * For Israel is stubborn like a stubborn heifer;
 * Now shall the feed them as a lamb in a large place?
 * Ephraim is joined to idols;
 * Let him alone.
 * When their carouse is over,
 * They take to harlotry;
 * Her rulers deeply love dishonour.
 * The wind hath bound her up in her skirts;
 * And they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.


 * Hear this, O ye priests,
 * And attend, ye house of Israel,
 * And give ear, O house of the king,
 * For unto you pertaineth the judgment;
 * For ye have been a snare on Mizpah,
 * And a net spread upon Tabor.
 * And they that fall away are gone deep in making slaughter;
 * And I am, rejected of them all.
 * I, even I, know Ephraim,
 * And Israel is not hid from Me;
 * For now, O Ephraim, thou hast committed harlotry,
 * Israel is defiled.
 * Their doings will not suffer them
 * To return unto their God;
 * For the spirit of harlotry is within them,
 * And they know not the.
 * But the pride of Israel shall testify to his face;
 * And Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity,
 * Judah also shall stumble with them.
 * With their flocks and with their herds they shall go
 * To seek the, but they shall not find Him;
 * He hath withdrawn Himself from them.
 * They have dealt treacherously against the ,
 * For they have begotten strange children;
 * Now shall the new moon devour them with their portions.


 * Blow ye the horn in Gibeah,
 * And the trumpet in Ramah;
 * Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
 * 'Behind thee, O Benjamin!'
 * Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke;
 * Among the tribes of Israel do I make known that which shall surely be.