The Lord Is Angry With Israel
1When the tribe of Ephraim spoke,
the other tribes trembled with fear.
Ephraim was honored in Israel.
But its people sinned by worshiping Baal.
So they were as good as dead.
2Now they sin more and more.
They use their silver
to make statues of gods for themselves.
The statues come from their own clever ideas.
Skilled workers make all of them.
The people pray to these gods.
They offer human sacrifices to them.
They kiss the gods that look like calves.
3So these people will vanish like the morning mist.
They will soon disappear like the early dew.
They will be like straw
that the wind blows around on a threshing floor.
They will be like smoke
that escapes through a window.
4The Lord says,
“People of Israel, I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
You must not worship any god but me.
You must not have any savior except me.
5I took care of you in the desert.
It was a land of burning heat.
6I fed them until they were satisfied.
Then they became proud.
They forgot all about me.
7So I will leap on them like a lion.
I will hide and wait
beside the road like a leopard.
8I will attack them like a bear
that is robbed of her cubs.
I will rip them wide open.
Like a lion I will eat them up.
Like a wild animal I will tear them apart.
9“Israel, you will be destroyed.
I helped you. But you turned against me.
10Where is your king?
Wasn’t he supposed to save you?
Where are the rulers in all your towns?
You said, ‘Give us a king and princes.’
11So I became angry and gave you a king.
Then I took him away from you.
12Ephraim’s guilt is piling up.
I am keeping a record of all their sins.
13They will suffer pain like a woman having a baby.
They are like foolish children.
It is time for them to be born.
But they don’t have the sense to come out of their mother’s body.
14“I will set these people free from the power of the grave.
I will save them from death.
Death, where are your plagues?
Grave, where is your power to destroy?
“I will no longer pity Ephraim.
15Even though they are doing well among the other tribes,
trouble will come to them.
I will send a hot and dry wind from the east.
It will blow in from the desert.
Their springs will not have any water.
Their wells will dry up.
All their treasures
will be taken out of their storerooms.
16The people of Samaria must pay for their sins.
They have refused to obey me.
They will be killed by swords.
Their little children will be smashed on the ground.
Their pregnant women will be ripped wide open.”
对以色列的最后审判
1以法莲支派在以色列地位崇高，
他们一开口，人都恐惧颤抖。
但他们却祭拜巴力，自招灭亡。
2如今他们作恶日甚，
凭借自己的聪明用银子铸造神像，
但这不过是匠人之作。
人们议论他们说：
“那些献祭的人竟亲吻牛犊偶像！”
3他们像晨雾，如转瞬即逝的朝露，
像麦场上飞旋而去的糠秕，
又像窗口冒出的轻烟。
4耶和华说：
“自从你们离开埃及以来，
我就是你们的上帝耶和华。
除我以外，你们不可有别的神明；
在我以外，你们也没有别的救主。
5我曾在干旱的旷野照顾你们，
6但你们吃得饱足以后，
就心高气傲，忘记了我。
7因此，我要像狮子攻击你们，
如豹子潜伏在路旁；
8我要像一头失了幼崽的母熊冲向你们，
撕裂你们的胸膛；
我要像母狮吞噬你们，
像凶猛的野兽撕碎你们。
9“以色列啊，你要灭亡了，
因为你抵挡我，抵挡你的帮助者。
10你曾求我为你设立君王和首领，
现在拯救你的君王在哪里呢？
在各城管理你的首领在哪里呢？
11我在愤怒中赐给你君王，
也在愤怒中废黜他们。
12“以法莲的过犯已被记录在册，
他的罪恶已被储存入库。
13临产的阵痛要临到他，
但他是毫无智慧的孩子，
分娩之时却不离开母腹。
14我要把他们从阴间的权势下赎回吗？
我要救他们脱离死亡吗？
死亡啊，你去降灾给他们吧！
阴间啊，你去毁灭他们吧！
我不会再怜悯他们。
15尽管以法莲在众弟兄中最强盛，
但炙热的东风——耶和华的风要从沙漠刮来，
使清泉枯竭，水井干涸。
他储藏的一切珍宝都要被掳去。
16撒玛利亚人背叛了他们的上帝，
要担当自己的罪过。
他们将丧身刀下，
他们的孩子要被摔死，
孕妇要被剖腹。”
