Ephraim has been like a dove, easily deceived and lacking discernment. They called to Egypt for help; they turned to Assyria for protection.

In it ¹  were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles ²  of the earth and wild birds. ³ 

My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest, as one gathers up abandoned eggs, I gathered up the whole earth. There was no wing flapping, or open mouth chirping.” ¹ 

I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel, and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar. Every bird will live under it; Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.

Now ¹  the earth ²  was without shape and empty, ³  and darkness ⁴  was over the surface of the watery deep, ⁵  but the Spirit of God ⁶  was moving ⁷  over the surface ⁸  of the water. ⁹ 

When you gaze upon riches, ¹  they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle! ² 

Just as birds hover over a nest, ¹  so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. ²  He will protect and deliver it; as he passes over ³  he will rescue it.

“Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people. They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. ¹  They set deadly traps ²  to catch people.

and tear it open by its wings without dividing it into two parts. ¹  Finally, the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is in the fire – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Now in that very moment ¹  this pronouncement about ²  Nebuchadnezzar came true. ³  He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle’s feathers, and his nails like a bird’s claws. ⁴ 

When ¹  the dove returned to him in the evening, there was ²  a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

The priest must present it at the altar, pinch off ¹  its head and offer the head ²  up in smoke on the altar, and its blood must be drained out against the side of the altar.

Even the birds find a home there, and the swallow ¹  builds a nest, where she can protect her young ²  near your altars, O Lord who rules over all, my king and my God.

Let us rise early to go to the vineyards, to see if the vines have budded, to see if their blossoms have opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom – there I will give you my love.

¹ They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. ²  Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” ³ 

Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; ¹  wild goats will bleat to one another. ²  Yes, nocturnal animals ³  will rest there and make for themselves a nest. ⁴ 

Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp, I coo ¹  like a dove; my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ²  O sovereign master, ³  I am oppressed; help me! ⁴ 

You may feel as secure as a bird nesting in the cedars of Lebanon. But oh how you ¹  will groan ²  when the pains of judgment come on you. They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby. ³ 

yes, while I was still praying, ¹  the man Gabriel, whom I had seen previously ²  in a vision, was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness, ³  around the time of the evening offering.

The prophet ¹  is a watchman ²  over Ephraim ³  on behalf of God, ⁴  yet traps ⁵  are laid for him along all of his paths; ⁶  animosity rages against him in the land ⁷  of his God.