The Lord Will Punish Israel
9Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations! For you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. You have loved harlots' earnings on every threshing floor.
2
Threshing floor and wine press will not feed them, And the new wine will fail them.
3
They will not remain in the Lord's land, But Ephraim will return to Egypt, And in Assyria they will eat unclean food.
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; All who eat of it will be defiled, For their bread will be for themselves alone; It will not enter the house of the Lord.
5
What will you do on the day of the appointed festival And on the day of the feast of the Lord?
6
For behold, they will go because of destruction; Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them. Weeds will take over their treasures of silver; Thorns will be in their tents.
7
The days of punishment have come, The days of retribution have come; Let Israel know this! The prophet is a fool, The inspired man is demented, Because of the grossness of your iniquity, And because your hostility is so great.
8
Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a prophet; Yet the snare of a bird catcher is in all his ways, And there is only hostility in the house of his God.
9
They have gone deep in depravity As in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their iniquity, He will punish their sins.
10
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, And they became as detestable as that which they loved.
11
As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird—No birth, no pregnancy and no conception!
12
Though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them until not a man is left. Yes, woe to them indeed when I depart from them!
13
Ephraim, as I have seen, Is planted in a pleasant meadow like Tyre; But Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter.
14
Give them, O Lord—what will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15
All their evil is at Gilgal; Indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; All their princes are rebels.
16
Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, They will bear no fruit. Even though they bear children, I will slay the precious ones of their womb.
17
My God will cast them away Because they have not listened to Him; And they will be wanderers among the nations.