THE COMING EXILE

9 Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do,ac

for you have acted promiscuously,ad leaving your God.

You love the wages of a prostitute

on every grain-threshing floor.ae

2 Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them,af

and the new wine will fail them.

3 They will not stay in the land of the Lord.

Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt,ag

and they will eat unclean foodah in Assyria.ai

4 They will not pour out

their wine offerings to the Lord,aj

and their sacrifices will not please him.

Their food will be like the bread of mourners;

all who eat it become defiled.ak

For their bread will be for their appetites alone;

it will not enter the house of the Lord.

5 What will you do on a festival day,al

on the day of the Lord’s feast?am

6 For even if they flee from devastation,

Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them.an

Thistles will take possession of their precious silver;

thorns will invade their tents.ao

7 The days of punishment have come;ap

the days of retribution have come.aq

Let Israel recognize it!

The prophet is a fool,ar

and the inspired man is insane,as

because of the magnitude

of your iniquity and hostility.at

8 Ephraim’s watchman is with my God.

Yet the prophet encounters a bird trap

on all his pathways.a

Hostility is in the house of his God!

9 They have deeply corrupted themselvesb

as in the days of Gibeah.c

He will remember their iniquity;

he will punish their sins.d

EPHRAIM BEREAVED OF OFFSPRING

10 I discovered Israel

like grapes in the wilderness.e

I saw your ancestors

like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season.f

But they went to Baal-peor,g

consecrated themselves to Shame,A,h

and became abhorrent,i

like the thing they loved.

11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird:j

no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.k

12 Even if they raise children,

I will bereave them of each one.

Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!l

13 I have seen Ephraim like Tyre,m

planted in a meadow,

so Ephraim will bring out his children

to the executioner.

14 Give them, Lord—

What should you give?

Give them a womb that miscarries

and breasts that are dry!n

15 All their evil appears at Gilgal,o

for there I began to hate them.

I will drive them from my house

because of their evil, wicked actions.p

I will no longer love them;

all their leaders are rebellious.q

16 Ephraimr is struck down;

their roots are withered;

they cannot bear fruit.s

Even if they bear children,

I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.t

17 My God will reject them

because they have not listened to him;u

they will become wanderers among the nations.v

THE VINE AND THE CALF

10 Israel is a lushB vine;w

it yields fruit for itself.

The more his fruit increased,

the more he increased the altars.x

The better his land produced,

the better they made the sacred pillars.y

2 Their hearts are devious;C,z

now they must bear their guilt.aa

The Lord will break down their altarsab

and demolish their sacred pillars.

3 In fact, they are now saying,

“We have no king!

For we do not fear the Lord.ac

What can a king do for us?”

4 They speak mere words,

taking false oaths while making covenants.ad

So lawsuits break out

like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.ae

5 The residents of Samariaaf will have anxiety

over the calfag of Beth-aven.ah

Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it;

the people will mourn over it,

over its glory.ai

It will certainly go into exile.

6 The calf itself will be taken to Assyriaaj

as an offering to the great king.D,ak

Ephraim will experience shame;al

Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.am

7 Samaria’s king will disappearE,an

like foamF on the surface of the water.

8 The high placesao of Aven, the sin of Israel,ap

will be destroyed;

thorns and thistles will grow over their altars.aq

They will say to the mountains,ar “Cover us!”

and to the hills, “Fall on us!”as

ISRAEL’S DEFEAT BECAUSE OF SIN

9 Israel, you have sinned

since the days of Gibeah;at

they have taken their stand there.

Will not war against the unjust

overtake them in Gibeah?

10 I will disciplineau them at my discretion;av

nations will be gathered against them

to put them in bondageA

for their double iniquity.a

11 Ephraim is a well-trained calfb

that loves to thresh,

but I will place a yoke onB her fine neck.c

I will harness Ephraim;d

Judah will plow;

Jacob will do the final plowing.

12 Sow righteousness for yourselvese

and reap faithful love;

break up your unplowed ground.f

It is time to seek the Lordg

until he comesh and sends righteousness

on you like the rain.i

13 You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice;j

you have eaten the fruit of lies.k

Because you have trusted in your own wayC

and in your large number of soldiers,l

14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,

and all your fortifications will be demolishedm

in a day of war,

like Shalman’s destruction of Beth-arbel.

Mothers will be dashed to pieces

along with their children.n

15 So it will be done to you, Bethel,o

because of your extreme evil.

At dawn the king of Israel will be totally destroyed.

THE LORD’S LOVE FOR ISRAEL

11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,p

and out of Egypt I called my son.q

2 Israel called to the Egyptiansr

even as Israel was leaving them.D

They kept sacrificing to the Baalss

and burning offerings to idols.t

3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,u

taking themE by the hand,F,v

but they never knew that I healed them.w

4 I led them with human cords,

with ropes of love.x

To them I was like one

who eases the yoke from their jaws;y

I bent down to give them food.z

5 Israel will not return to the land of Egypt

and Assyria will be his king,aa

because they refused to repent.ab

6 A sword will whirl through his cities;ac

it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates,G,ad

because of their schemes.ae

7 My people are bent on turning from me.af

Though they call to him on high,

he will not exalt them at all.

8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?ag

How can I surrender you, Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?ah

How can I treat you like Zeboiim?ai

I have had a change of heart;

my compassion is stirred!

9 I will not vent the full fury of my anger;aj

I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.ak

For I am God and not man,

the Holy One among you;al

I will not come in rage.H

10 They will follow the Lord;am

he will roar like a lion.an

When he roars,

his children will come trembling from the west.ao

11 They will be roused like birds from Egypt

and like dovesap from the land of Assyria.aq

Then I will settle them in their homes.ar

This is the Lord’s declaration.

12 Ephraim surrounds me with lies,as

the house of Israel, with deceit.

Judah still wanders with God

and is faithful to the holy ones.I