New International Version | New Living Translation |
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. | 1O people of Israel, do not rejoice as other nations do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, worshiping other gods on every threshing floor. |
2Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. | 2So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. There will be no grapes for making new wine. |
3They will not remain in the LORD's land; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria. | 3You may no longer stay here in the LORD’s land. Instead, you will return to Egypt, and in Assyria you will eat food that is ceremonially unclean. |
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. | 4There you will make no offerings of wine to the LORD. None of your sacrifices there will please him. They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning. All who present such sacrifices will be defiled. They may eat this food themselves, but they may not offer it to the LORD. |
5What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals, on the feast days of the LORD? | 5What then will you do on festival days? How will you observe the LORD’s festivals? |
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. | 6Even if you escape destruction from Assyria, Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis will bury you. Nettles will take over your treasures of silver; thistles will invade your ruined homes. |
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. | 7The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of payment is here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. Because of your great sin and hostility, you say, “The prophets are crazy and the inspired men are fools!” |
8The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. | 8The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God, yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God. |
9They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins. | 9The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago. God will not forget. He will surely 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. | 10The LORD says, “O Israel, when I first found you, it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert. When I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But then they deserted me for Baal-peor, giving themselves to that shameful idol. Soon they became vile, as vile as the god they worshiped. |
11Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird-- no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. | 11The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will not be born or grow in the womb or even be conceived. |
12Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them! | 12Even if you do have children who grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day when I turn away and leave you alone. |
13I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer." | 13I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.” |
14Give them, LORD-- what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry. | 14O LORD, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth and breasts that give no milk. |
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. | 15The LORD says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels. |
16Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring." | 16The people of Israel are struck down. Their roots are dried up, and they will bear no more fruit. And if they give birth, I will slaughter their beloved children.” |
17My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations. | 17My God will reject the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be wanderers, homeless among the nations. |
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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