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The more I called them,
    the farther they went from me,
Sacrificing to the Baals
    and burning incense to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    who took them in my arms;(A)
    but they did not know that I cared for them.
I drew them with human cords,
    with bands of love;[a]
I fostered them like those
    who raise an infant to their cheeks;
    I bent down to feed them.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 11:4 I drew them…with bands of love: perhaps a reversal of the yoke imagery of the previous chapter, i.e., not forcing them like draft animals, but drawing them with kindness and affection.