Ephraim Punished
1 Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation as do the [pagan] peoples, For you have played the prostitute, turning away from your God. You have loved prostitutes’ earnings on every threshing floor [attributing the harvest to the Baals instead of to God].
2 The threshing floor and the wine press will no longer feed them, And the new wine will fail them [because they failed to honor the God who provides].
3 They will not remain in the land of the Lord, But Ephraim will return to [another] Egypt [in bondage] And they will eat [ceremonially] unclean food in Assyria. [2 Kin 25:26; Ezek 4:13]
4 They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord; Their sacrifices will not please Him. Their bread will be like mourners’ bread [eaten at funerals]; All who eat it will be [ceremonially] unclean, For their bread will be for themselves; It will not enter the house of the Lord [to be consecrated].
5 What will you do on the day of the appointed festival And on the day of the feast of the Lord [when you are in exile]?
6 For behold, they will go away because of devastation and destruction; Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them. Weeds will take over their treasures of silver; Thorns will grow in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come; The days of retribution are at hand; Let Israel know this! The prophet is [considered] a fool; The man [of God] who is inspired is [treated as if] demented, Because of the abundance of your wickedness and guilt, And because your deep antagonism [toward God and the prophets] is so great. [Luke 21:22]
8 Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a [true] prophet [to warn the nation]; But the snare of a bird catcher was laid in all his paths. And there is only deep hostility in the house of his God (the land of Israel).
9 They have deeply corrupted (perverted) themselves As in the days of Gibeah. The Lord will remember their wickedness and guilt; He will punish their sins. [Judg 20]
10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness [an unexpected and refreshing delight]; I saw your fathers (ancestors) as the first ripe fruit on the fig tree in its first season, But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to shamefulness [the worship of Baal], And [because of their spiritual and physical adultery] they became as detestable and loathsome as the thing they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird; No birth, no pregnancy, and [because of their impurity] no conception.
12 Even though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them until not one is left. Indeed, woe (judgment is coming) to them when I look away and withdraw [My blessing] from them!
13 Ephraim, as I have seen, Is planted in a pleasant [and prosperous] meadow like Tyre; But Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner [for slaughter].
14 Give them [the punishment they deserve], O Lord! What will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness [says the Lord] is focused in Gilgal; Indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their [idolatrous] practices I will drive them out of My house (the land of Israel)! I will love them no longer; All their princes are rebels. [Hos 4:15; 12:11]
16 Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, They will bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will slay the precious children of their womb.
17 My God will reject them and cast them away Because they did not listen to Him; And they will be wanderers (fugitives) among the nations.