⁷ “They kill their kings one after another,^[a] and no one cries out to me for help.

⁸ “My people mingle with the heathen, picking up their evil ways; thus they become as good-for-nothing as a half-baked cake!

⁹ “Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don’t know it. Ephraim’s hair is turning gray, and he doesn’t even realize how weak and old he is.