1“When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
and called my son out of Egypt.
2They called to them, so they went from them.
They sacrificed to the Baals,
and burned incense to engraved images.
3Yet I taught Ephraim to walk.
I took them by their arms,
but they didn’t know that I healed them.
4I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love;
and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks;
and I bent down to him and I fed him.
5“They won’t return into the land of Egypt;
but the Assyrian will be their king,
because they refused to repent.
6The sword will fall on their cities,
and will destroy the bars of their gates,
and will put an end to their plans.
7My people are determined to turn from me.
Though they call to the Most High,
he certainly won’t exalt them.
8“How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboiim?
My heart is turned within me,
my compassion is aroused.
9I will not execute the fierceness of my anger.
I will not return to destroy Ephraim,
for I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you.
I will not come in wrath.
10They will walk after Yahweh,
who will roar like a lion;
for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.
11They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt,
and like a dove out of the land of Assyria;
and I will settle them in their houses,” says Yahweh.
12Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood,
and the house of Israel with deceit.
Judah still strays from God,
and is unfaithful to the Holy One.
What is particularly striking about the manner of prayer that Jesus taught his disciples is that they were to address God as their Father. Out of this new relationship flow other important features of the prayer that distinguish it from the meaningless babble of the pagans (Matt 6:7-8). Though Yahweh had occasionally described himself as a father to Israel (e. g., Hos 11:1; Mal 1:6, 2:10), it was because the nation owed its existence and well-being to God's covenant with Abraham, and Isaac's miraculous conception. Until Jesus came, there is no evidence that individual believers thought of God, or addressed him, as their personal father. But now, in union with Jesus, the (ontological) Son of God, believers have been adopted into a new relationship as sons (Gal 4:1-7).
The address, "Our Father," serves to remind those praying that they share God as Father with everyone he has begotten. Thus, the self-interest that drives pagan prayer is subordinated to the interests of others (Phil 3:3-4). Carrying on in order "to be heard" (Matt 6:7) is replaced with confidence that "Your Father knows what you need before you ask" (v. 8). In response to this amazing new reality, the first three requests (vv. 9-10) give priority to God and His coming kingdom. The last requests--equal in number and not unimportant--express humble dependence upon God to meet the needs of His people until His kingdom comes (vv. 11-13). The forgiveness requested in verse 12 is for restoration to fellowship (1 John 1:9), not justification.
Whether the doxology, at the end of verse 13, is original or a scribal addition, it concludes the prayer on the note with which it begins: The glory of God. Thus, the prayer as a whole is summarized with the words of Jesus' prayer, "'yet not as I will, but as You will'" (Matt 26:39, NAU).