Punishment for Israel
1Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilant like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitute
at every threshing-floor.
2Threshing-floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine will fail them.
3They will not remain in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt
and eat unclean food in Assyria.
4They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord,
nor will their sacrifices please him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;
all who eat them will be unclean.
This food will be for themselves;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.
5What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals,
on the feast days of the Lord?
6Even if they escape from destruction,
Egypt will gather them,
and Memphis will bury them.
Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers,
and thorns will overrun their tents.
7The days of punishment are coming,
the days of reckoning are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sins are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,
the inspired person a maniac.
8The prophet, along with my God,
is the watchman over Ephraim,9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God
yet snares await him on all his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.
9They have sunk deep into corruption,
as in the days of Gibeah.
God will remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.
10‘When I found Israel,
it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig-tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,
they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol
and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird –
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.
12Even if they bring up children,
I will bereave them of every one.
Woe to them
when I turn away from them!
13I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place.
But Ephraim will bring out
their children to the slayer.’
14Give them, Lord –
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that are dry.
15‘Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,
I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;
all their leaders are rebellious.
16Ephraim is blighted,
their root is withered,
they yield no fruit.
Even if they bear children,
I will slay their cherished offspring.’
17My God will reject them
because they have not obeyed him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.
1Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.9.1 upon: or, in, etc 2The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.9.2 winepress: or, winefat 3They shall not dwell in the LORD’s land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. 4They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD. 5What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD? 6For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.9.6 destruction: Heb. spoil9.6 the…: or, their silver shall be desired, the nettle, etc.: Heb. the desire
7The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.9.7 spiritual…: Heb. man of the spirit 8The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.9.8 in the: or, against the 9They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins. 10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baal-peor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.
11As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. 12Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them! 13Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. 14Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.9.14 miscarrying: Heb. that casteth the fruit 15All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters. 16Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.9.16 the…: Heb. the desires 17My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
