The people of Ephraim will disappear
1The Lord said:
‘Long ago, everyone was afraid
of the people of Ephraim.
All the Israelites thought
the people of Ephraim were the most important.
But the people of Ephraim sinned.
They worshipped Baal,
and that is why I destroyed them.
2But now they are doing even more sin.
They make images of their idols.
They take silver and make images
as they think the images must be.
Artisans make the images
that look like bull-calves
and they say the people
who worship the images must kiss them.
3That is why the people of Ephraim
will disappear like mist in the morning
and like the morning dew.
They will disappear like chaff
when the wind blows it away
from the threshing-floor,
and like smoke that goes out
through a window in a wall of a house.
4When you came out of Egypt,
I was your God, the Lord.
Only I was with you.
There was no other god near you
who could save you.
5I was with you in the desert,
in the dry land.
6But when I gave them food
and they had eaten enough,
they became proud and they forgot
that I was their God.
7That is why I want
the people of Ephraim to die.
I will become like a lion, like a leopard,
and I will wait for them next to the road.
8I will be as angry as a mother bear
when someone has taken away her babies.
I will be like a lion that wants to tear open
their chests and eat them,
and like a wild animal that wants to kill them.
9I will kill you,
because you are against Me.
You are against the God who helped you.
10Your king is gone. He can not help you
in one of your towns or cities.
Your leaders are also gone.
The Israelites said:
“Give us a king and officials.”
11I was angry with you,
but I gave you a king,
and I took your king away
when I became very angry.’
The Lord is angry with the people of Ephraim
12The Lord knows everything
that the people of Ephraim have done.
He remembers all their sins.
13They were like a baby who had to be born
but was too stupid to know
how to come out of his mother's womb.
14The Lord asks:
‘Do I have to pay
so that they don't go to the grave
from where they can not come back?
Do I have to pay so they won't die?
No, death must take them
like thorns holding on to someone,
like bees that sting people to death.
I will not feel sorry for them anymore.’
15Ephraim is like a green plant
that grows among the reeds,
but the eastern wind will come.
The Lord will send the wind from the desert
and then there will be no water left.
All the water-wells will be empty.
The enemies will come and they will
take everything that is beautiful.
They will take all your treasures.
16The people of the city of Samaria
must be satisfied if God punishes them.
The enemies will kill them.
They will also kill their babies
and they will cut open the pregnant women.
