Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is certain.

They are all hot like an oven
And they consume their judges (rulers);
All their kings have fallen.
There is no one among them who calls to Me.

Ephraim mixes himself with the [Gentile] nations [seeking favor with one country, then another];
Ephraim is a cake not turned [worthless; ready to be thrown away].

Israel is [as if] swallowed up [by enemies];
They are now among the nations
Like a vessel [of cheap, coarse pottery] that is useless.

Yes, even though [with presents] they hire allies among the nations,
Now I will gather them up;
And [in a little while] they will begin to grow weak and diminish
Because of the burden imposed by the king of princes [the king of Assyria].

My God will reject them and cast them away
Because they did not listen to Him;
And they will be wanderers (fugitives) among the nations.

For though he flourishes among the reeds (his fellow tribes),
An east wind (Assyria) will come,
The breath of the Lord rising from the desert;
And Ephraim’s spring will become dry
And his fountain will be dried up.
Assyria will plunder his treasury of every precious object.