| New Living Translation | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 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. | 1Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do, for you have acted promiscuously, leaving your God. You have loved the wages of a prostitute on every grain-threshing floor. |
| 2So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. There will be no grapes for making new wine. | 2Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them, and the new wine will fail them. |
| 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. | 3They will not stay in the land of the LORD. Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria. |
| 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. | 4They will not pour out their wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him. Their food will be like the bread of mourners; all who eat it become defiled. For their bread will be for their appetites alone; it will not enter the house of the LORD. |
| 5What then will you do on festival days? How will you observe the LORD’s festivals? | 5What will you do on a festival day, on the day of the LORD's feast? |
| 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. | 6For even if they flee from devastation, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Thistles will take possession of their precious silver; thorns will invade their tents. |
| 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!” | 7The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come. Let Israel recognize it! The prophet is a fool, and the inspired man is insane, because of the magnitude of your guilt and hostility. |
| 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. | 8Ephraim's watchman is with my God. The prophet encounters a fowler's snare on all his ways. Hostility is in the house of his God! |
| 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. | 9They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins. |
| 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. | 10I discovered Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, consecrated themselves to Shame, and became detestable, like the thing they loved. |
| 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. | 11Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird: no birth, no gestation, no conception. |
| 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. | 12Even if they raise children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them! |
| 13I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.” | 13I have seen Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a meadow, so Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner. |
| 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. | 14Give them, LORD-- What should You give? Give them a womb that miscarries and breasts that are dry! |
| 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. | 15All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I came to hate them. I will drive them from My house because of their evil, wicked actions. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. |
| 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.” | 16Ephraim is struck down; their roots are withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs. |
| 17My God will reject the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be wanderers, homeless among the nations. | 17My God will reject them because they have not listened to Him; they will become wanderers among the nations. |
| 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. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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