6 They become hot like an oven while they lie in ambush.

All night long their anger smolders, but in the morning it burns like a raging fire.

7 They are all as hot as an oven.

They consume their judges like a fire.

All their kings die in battle, and none of them calls to me.

Israel Turns to Other Nations for Help 8 "Ephraim mixes with other nations.

Ephraim, you are like a half-baked loaf of bread.

9 Foreigners are using up your strength, but you don't realize it.

You have become a gray-haired, old man, but you don't realize it.

10 Israel, your arrogance testifies against you, but even after all this, you don't turn to Yahweh your Elohim or look to him for help.

11 Ephraim, you are like a silly, senseless dove.

You call for Egypt and run to Assyria for help.

12 When you go, I will spread my net over you.

I will snatch you out of the air like a bird.

I will punish you for all the evil things you have done.

13 "How horrible it will be for these people.

They have run away from me.

They must be destroyed because they've rebelled against me.

I want to reclaim them, but they tell lies about me.

14 They don't pray to me sincerely, even though they cry in their beds and make cuts on their bodies while praying for grain and new wine.

They have turned against me.

15 I trained them and made them strong.

Yet, they plan evil against me.

16 They don't return to the Most High.

They are like a defective bow.

Their officials will die in battle because they curse.

The people in Egypt will ridicule them for this.

The LORD Will Punish Israel for Its Rebellion 8 1 "Sound the alarm on the ram's horn.

The enemy swoops down on Yahweh's temple like an eagle.

The people of Israel have rejected my promise and rebelled against my teachings.

2 They cry out to me, 'We acknowledge you as our Elohim .'

3 However, they have rejected what is good.

The enemy will persecute them.

4 "They chose their own kings, kings I didn't approve.

They chose their own princes, princes I didn't know.

They chose to make idols with their own silver and gold.

Because of this, they will be destroyed.

5 Get rid of your calf-shaped idol, Samaria.

My anger burns against these people.

How long will they remain unclean?a 6 Samaria's calf-shaped idol was made in Israel.

Skilled workers made it.

It is not a god.

It will be smashed to pieces.

7 "The people of Israel plant the wind, but they harvest a storm.

A field of grain that doesn't ripen will never produce any grain.

Even if it did produce grain, foreigners would eat it all.

8 Israel will be swallowed up.

It has already mixed in with the other nations.

It has become worthless.

9 "The people of Israel went to Assyria.

They were like wild donkeys wandering off alone.

The people of Ephraim sold themselves to their lovers.

10 Even though they sold themselves among the nations, I will gather them now.

They will suffer for a while under the burdens of kings and princes.

11 "The more altars that the people of Ephraim build to make offerings to pay for their sins, the more places they have for sinning.

12 I have written many things for them in my teachings, but they consider these things strange and foreign.

13 They offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat of sacrifices, but I, Yahweh , do not accept these sacrifices.

Now I will remember their wickedness and punish them because of their sins.

They will go back to Egypt.

14 The people of Israel have built palaces, and they have forgotten their maker.

The people of Judah have built many fortified cities.

I will send a fire on their cities and burn down their palaces."

9 1 Israel, don't rejoice.

Don't celebrate as other nations do.

You have been unfaithful to your Elohim.

You have sold sex on every threshing floor.b 2 There won't be enough grain to feed people.

There won't be enough wine to go around.

3 The people of Ephraim won't stay in Yahweh's land.

They will return to Egypt, and they will eat uncleanc food in Assyria.

4 They won't pour wine offerings to Yahweh, and their sacrifices won't please him.

Their sacrifices will be like the food that mourners eat.

All who eat this food will be unclean.

Their food will only satisfy their hunger.

It will not be brought as an offering to Yahweh's temple.

5 What will they do on the day of an appointed festival or on Yahweh's festival days?

6 Even if they escape without being destroyed, Egypt will capture them and Memphis will bury them.

Weeds will grow over their silver treasures.

Thorns will grow over their tents.

7 The time for them to be punished will come.

The time for them to pay for their sins will come.

When this happens, Israel will know it.

They think that prophets are fools and that spiritual people are crazy.

They have sinned a lot, and they are very hostile.

8 Prophets are Elohim's watchmen over Ephraim.

Yet, traps are set on every prophet's path, and people are hostile in the temple of their Elohim.

9 People have deeply corrupted themselves as they once did at Gibeah.

Elohim will remember their wickedness and punish them because of their sins.

Israel Is Like Rotten Grapes or Rotten Figs 10 The LORD said, "When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert.

When I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first figs of the harvest.

But they went to Baal Peor and worshiped shameful idols.

They became as disgusting as the things they worshiped.

11 "Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird.

There will be no more pregnancies, births, or babies.

12 Even if they bring up children, I will take those children away before they grow up.

Yes, how horrible it will be for them when I leave them.

13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place.

But the people of Ephraim will bring out their children to be killed."

14 Yahweh , give them what they deserve.

Make the women miscarry, or else make them unable to nurse their babies.

15 "All Ephraim's wickedness began in Gilgal; I hated the people there.