| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples, For you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love for hire on 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. |
| 2The threshing floor and the winepress Shall not feed them, And the new wine shall fail in her. | 2So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. There will be no grapes for making new wine. |
| 3They shall not dwell in the LORD’s land, But Ephraim shall return to Egypt, And shall eat unclean things 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 shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, Nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to Him. It shall be like bread of mourners to them; All who eat it shall be defiled. For their bread shall be for their own life; It shall not come into the house 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 in the appointed day, And in the day of the feast of the LORD? | 5What then will you do on festival days? How will you observe the LORD’s festivals? |
| 6For indeed they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver; Thorns shall be in 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 have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, The spiritual man is insane, Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. | 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 watchman of Ephraim is with my God; But the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways— Enmity 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 are deeply corrupted, As in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish 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“I found Israel Like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers As the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal Peor, And separated themselves to that shame; They became an abomination like 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. |
| 11As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird— No birth, no pregnancy, and 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. |
| 12Though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them to the last man. Yes, woe to them when I depart 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. |
| 13Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place, So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.” | 13I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.” |
| 14Give them, O LORD— What will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb And dry breasts! | 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“All their wickedness is in Gilgal, For there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes 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 stricken, Their root is dried up; They shall bear no fruit. Yes, were they to bear children, I would kill the darlings of their womb.” | 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 cast them away, Because they did not obey Him; And they shall 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | 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. |
|
