[7:8] The Lord says, “The people of Israel are like a half-baked loaf of bread. They rely on the nations around them
[7:9] and do not realize that this reliance on foreigners has robbed them of their strength. Their days are numbered, but they don't even know it.
[7:10] The arrogance of the people of Israel cries out against them. In spite of everything that has happened, they have not returned to me, the Lord their God.
[7:11] Israel flits around like a silly pigeon; first her people call on Egypt for help, and then they run to Assyria!
[7:12] But I will spread out a net and catch them like birds as they go by. I will punish them for the evil they have done.
[7:13] “They are doomed! They have left me and rebelled against me. They will be destroyed. I wanted to save them, but their worship of me was false.
[7:14] They have not prayed to me sincerely, but instead they throw themselves down and wail as the heathen do. When they pray for grain and wine, they gash themselves like pagans. What rebels they are!
[7:15] Even though I was the one who brought them up and made them strong, they plotted against me.
[7:16] They keep on turning away from me to a god that is powerless. They are as unreliable as a crooked bow. Because their leaders talk arrogantly, they will die a violent death, and the Egyptians will laugh.”