Search: 35 results

Exact Match


When their liquor is gone [and their drinking parties are over],
They habitually go to play the prostitute;
Ephraim’s rulers continue to dearly love shame [more than her glory which is the Lord, Israel’s God].


I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols;
Israel has defiled itself.


But the pride and self-reliance of Israel testifies against him.
Therefore Israel, and [especially] Ephraim, stumble and fall in their wickedness and guilt;
Judah also has stumbled with them.


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


Ephraim is oppressed; he is broken and crushed by [divine] judgment,
Because he was determined to follow man’s command (vanities, filth, secular precepts).


Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim
And like dry rot to the house of Judah [in My judgment against them].


When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his wound,
Then Ephraim went to Assyria [instead of the Lord]
And sent to [Assyria’s] great King Jareb [for help].
But he cannot heal you
Nor will he cure you of your wound [received in judgment].


For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear to pieces and go on [tearing];
I will carry off [the prey] and there will be no one to rescue them.


O Ephraim, what shall I do with you?
O Judah, what shall I do with you?
For your [wavering] loyalty and kindness are [transient] like the morning cloud
And like the dew that goes away early.


I have seen a horrible thing [sins of every kind] in the house of Israel!
Ephraim’s prostitution (idolatry) is there; Israel has defiled itself.

When I would heal Israel,
The sin (guilt) of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria,
Because they practice false dealing;
The thief enters,
Bandits ravage and raid outside.


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].


Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without heart or good sense;
They call to Egypt [for help], they go to Assyria.


For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like a wild donkey wandering alone and taking her own way;
Ephraim has hired lovers (pagan allies).


For Ephraim has constructed many altars for sin;
They are altars intended for sinning [which multiply his guilt].


They will not remain in the land of the Lord,
But Ephraim will return to [another] Egypt [in bondage]
And they will eat [ceremonially] unclean food in Assyria.


Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a [true] prophet [to warn the nation];
But the snare of a bird catcher was laid in all his paths.
And there is only deep hostility in the house of his God (the land of Israel).


As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird;
No birth, no pregnancy, and [because of their impurity] no conception.


Ephraim, as I have seen,
Is planted in a pleasant [and prosperous] meadow like Tyre;
But Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner [for slaughter].


Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up,
They will bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will slay the precious children of their womb.


The golden calf itself will be carried to Assyria
As tribute to King Jareb;
Ephraim will be seized with shame
And Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel [to worship the calf and separate Israel from Judah].


O Israel, you have [willfully] sinned since the days of Gibeah;
There they (Israel) stand!
Will not the battle against the sons of wickedness overtake them at Gibeah?


Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to tread out the grain,
But I will come over her fair neck with a heavy yoke [for hard field work].
I will harness Ephraim;
Judah will plow and Jacob will harrow and rake for himself.


Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk,
Taking them in My arms [nurturing the young nation];
But they did not know that I healed them.


How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within Me;
All My compassions are kindled together [for My nation of Israel].


I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not return to Ephraim to destroy him again.
For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst [who will not revoke My covenant],
And I will not come in wrath or enter the city [in judgment].


Ephraim surrounds Me with lies
And the house of Israel with deceit;
Judah is also unruly against God,
Even against the faithful Holy One.

Ephraim feeds on the [emptiness of the] wind
And [continually] pursues the [parching] east wind [which brings destruction];
Every day he multiplies lies and violence.
Further, he makes a covenant with Assyria
And (olive) oil is carried to Egypt [to seek alliances].


Ephraim said, “I have indeed become rich [and powerful as a nation];
I have found wealth for myself.
In all my labors they will not find in me
Any wickedness that would be sin.”


Ephraim has provoked most bitter anger;
So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him [invoking punishment]
And bring back to him his shame and dishonor.

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling and terror.
He exalted himself [above the other tribes] in Israel;
But through [the worship of] Baal he became guilty and died [spiritually, and then came ruin, sealing Israel’s doom as a nation].


The wickedness of Ephraim [which is not yet completely punished] is bound up [as in a bag];
His sin is stored up [for judgment and destruction].


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.


O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
It is I who have answered and will care for you and watch over you.
I am like a luxuriant cypress tree;
With Me your fruit is found [which is to nourish you].