9:13 Just as lion cubs are born predators, 1
so Ephraim will bear his sons for slaughter.
9:16 Ephraim will be struck down 2 –
their root will be dried up;
they will not yield any fruit.
Even if they do bear children,
I will kill their precious offspring.
1 tc The MT is corrupt in 9:13. The BHS editors suggest emending the text to follow the LXX reading. See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:250-51.
2 tn Or perhaps, following the plant metaphor, “will be blighted” (NIV similar).