The Lord’s Love for Israel
1 [ch. 2:15] When Israel was a child, Deut. 7:8;[ch. 14:4] I loved him,
and out of Egypt I Cited Matt. 2:15called Ex. 4:22;[Mal. 1:6]my son.
2 [ver. 7] The more they were called,
the more they went away;
[ch. 2:13;13:1,2]they kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
3 Yet it was [ch. 7:15;Deut. 1:31] I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that Ex. 15:26I healed them.
4 Jer. 31:3;[John 6:44;12:32] I led them with cords of kindness,11:4 Or humaneness; Hebrew man
with the bands of love,
and Lev. 26:13I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
and See Ps. 78:24-29I bent down to them and fed them.