Israel Will Be Punished
1Israel, don’t be joyful.
Don’t be glad as the other nations are.
You haven’t been faithful to your God.
You love to get paid for being a prostitute.
Your pay is the grain at every threshing floor.
2But soon there won’t be any grain or wine to feed you.
There won’t even be any fresh wine.
3You won’t remain in the Lord’s land.
Ephraim, you will return to Egypt.
You will eat “unclean” food in Assyria.
4You won’t pour out wine offerings to the Lord.
Your sacrifices won’t please him.
They’ll be like the bread people eat when someone dies.
Everyone who eats those sacrifices will be “unclean.”
They themselves will have to eat that kind of food.
They can’t bring it into the Lord’s temple.
5What will you do when your appointed feasts come?
What will you do on the Lord’s special days?
6Some of you will escape without being destroyed.
But you will die in Egypt.
Your bodies will be buried at Memphis.
Weeds will cover your treasures of silver.
Thorns will grow up in your tents.
7The time when God will punish you is coming.
The day when he will judge you is near.
I want Israel to know this.
You have committed many sins.
And you hate me very much.
That’s why you think the prophet is foolish.
You think the person the Lord speaks through is crazy.
8People of Ephraim, the prophet, along with my God,
is warning you of danger.
But you set traps for him everywhere he goes.
You hate him so much
you even wait for him in God’s house.
9You have sunk very deep into sin,
just as your people did at Gibeah long ago.
God will remember the evil things they have done.
He will punish them for their sins.
10The Lord says,
“When I first found Israel,
it was like finding grapes in the desert.
When I saw your people of long ago,
it was like seeing the early fruit on a fig tree.
But then they went to Baal Peor.
There they gave themselves to that shameful god named Baal.
They became as evil as the god they loved.
11Ephraim’s greatness and glory will be gone.
It will fly away like a bird.
Women will no longer have children.
They will not be able to get pregnant.
12But suppose they do have children.
Then I will kill every one of them.
How terrible it will be for them
when I turn away from them!
13Tyre is planted in a pleasant place.
And so is Ephraim.
But the Assyrians will kill
Ephraim’s children.”
14Lord, what should you do to Ephraim’s people?
Give them women whose babies die before they are born.
Give them women whose breasts have no milk.
15The Lord says,
“My people did many evil things in Gilgal.
That is why I hated them there.
They committed many sins.
So I will drive them out of my land.
I will not love them anymore.
All their leaders refuse to obey me.
16Ephraim is like a worthless plant.
Its roots are dried up.
It does not produce any fruit.
Suppose Ephraim’s people have children.
Then I will kill the children they love so much.”
17My God will turn his back on his people.
They have not obeyed him.
So they will wander among other nations.
何西阿宣佈對以色列的懲罰
1以色列啊，
不要歡喜快樂，
不要像外族人那樣歡喜快樂！
因為你對你的上帝不忠不貞，
在各麥場上喜愛賣淫得資財。
2但麥場上的穀物將不夠養活你們，
榨酒池裡也將缺乏新酒。
3你們將不能再住在耶和華的土地上。
以法蓮要返回埃及，
在亞述吃不潔之物。
4你們將不能再獻奠祭給耶和華，
你們的祭牲也不蒙悅納。
這些祭物如居喪之人的食物，
吃的人都被玷污。
你們的食物只能供自己吃，
不能帶進耶和華的殿。
5在耶和華所定的節期裡，
你們要做什麼呢？
6即使你們逃脫毀滅之災，
埃及人也要把你們聚集起來，
在摩弗埋葬你們。
你們的珍貴銀器要散落在荊棘中，
你們的帳篷中要長滿蒺藜。
7以色列人受懲罰的日子近了，
遭報應的時候到了！
這點你們要知道。
你們罪惡深重，充滿憎恨，
以致你們說：
「先知是傻瓜，
被靈感動的人是瘋子。」
8先知為了上帝做以法蓮的守望者，
可是他走的路上佈滿網羅，
在他上帝的家裡遭人憎恨。
9你們敗壞至極，
恰如從前在基比亞的日子。
耶和華必記住你們的罪惡，
追討你們的罪債。
10耶和華說：
「昔日我看見以色列時，
像在荒野看見葡萄；
看見你們的祖先時，
像在無花果樹上看見初熟的果子。
但他們卻祭拜巴力·毗珥，
把自己獻給可恥的偶像，
變得像他們所愛的偶像一樣可憎。
11以法蓮人的榮耀要如鳥飛逝，
你們將不能受孕，
不能懷胎，
也不能生育。
12你們縱然把孩子養大，
我也要奪去他們的性命，一個也不留。
我撇棄你們的時候，
你們就有禍了！
13我看見以法蓮栽種在草原上，美如泰爾，
但以法蓮卻要把孩子交給屠殺者。」
14耶和華啊，求你給他們——
你要給他們什麼呢？
求你使他們子宮流產，乳房乾癟。
15耶和華說：
「因他們在吉甲的一切惡行，
我已憎惡他們。
因他們的惡行，
我要將他們逐出我的家，
不再愛他們，
他們的首領都是悖逆之人。
16以法蓮要被擊打，
他們的根將枯乾，
再也不能結果。
就算他們能生兒育女，
我也要殺死他們心愛的孩子。」
17我的上帝必棄絕他們，
因為他們不聽從祂。
他們必在列國中流離飄泊。
