Beginning
The Israelites worship idols instead of the Lord
8 The Lord says, ‘Warn the people of danger!
My people have not obeyed the covenant that I made with them.
They have refused to obey my laws.
So an enemy army will come to attack their land,
like an eagle that is ready to fly down and catch them.[a]
2 Israel's people call out to me for help.
They say, “We know you as our God.”
3 But they have refused to do what is good and right.
So their enemies will chase after them.
4 My people chose kings to rule them,
but they did not ask me about it.
They chose people to lead them, but I did not agree.
They used their silver and their gold
to make idols for themselves.
But that will destroy them in the end.
5 People of Samaria, you have made an image of a calf as your idol.[b]
But I hate that idol!
I am very angry with the Israelites.
How much longer will it be before I have to punish them?
6 That idol is not a true god!
An Israelite worker with special skills made it.
Samaria's idol of a calf will break into pieces!
7 Like a farmer, Israel's people have planted the wind.
So their harvest will be a strong storm!
The crops that grow in their fields will not have any grain.
So they will not be able to make flour for bread.
Even if the crops do make some grain,
foreign people will take it for themselves.
8 Israel will become lost among the other nations.
It will be like a useless pot that nobody needs.
9 Israel's rulers have gone to Assyria for help.
They are like a wild donkey that goes here and there.
Ephraim's people have paid money to get help from other nations.[c]
as if they are paying for lovers.
10 Yes, they have paid money to get friends who will help them.
But I will soon bring them together to punish them.
A great king will be cruel to them and they will receive much pain.[d]
11 Ephraim's people have built many altars to make sin offerings.
But the altars have become places where the people do even more sins![e]
12 I carefully explained my laws to my people.
But they do not accept my laws as their own.
13 Israel's people offer sacrifices to me,
and they eat the meat from those sacrifices.
But their sacrifices do not please me.
I know that they are guilty of wicked things.
Soon I will punish them for their sins.
They will have to return to Egypt.
14 Israel's people have built beautiful palaces.
But they have forgotten me, who made them into a nation!
Judah's people have built many strong cities.
But I will send fire to destroy their cities and their strong buildings.’
The Lord will punish Israel
9 People of Israel, do not shout with joy,
as the people of other nations do at their festivals.
You have not been faithful to me, your God.
Like a prostitute, you sell yourselves to foreign gods
that you worship on the threshing floors.
2 But the threshing floors will not provide enough grain to feed the people.
The winepresses will not give them enough new wine.
3 The Israelites will not remain in the Lord's land.
They will have to return to Egypt.
In Assyria, they will have to eat food that is unclean.
4 They will not pour out wine as an offering to the Lord.
Their sacrifices will not please him.
Instead, their offerings will be like food that people eat at a funeral.
Anyone who eats it becomes unclean.
They may eat the food to feed themselves,
but they cannot offer it to the Lord in his temple.
5 So what will you do on your festival days?
You will no longer be able to worship the Lord properly.
6 Listen! Perhaps some Israelites will escape when Assyria's army attacks.
But then Egypt's army will take hold of them.
They will die in Memphis and people will bury them there.[f]
Weeds will grow all over their valuable silver things.
Thorn bushes will grow in their homes.
7 The time for Israel's punishment has arrived!
The Lord must now pay them back for their sins.
The Israelites will soon know about it!
You do many sins and you hate the Lord.
Because of that, you say that his prophets are fools.
You think that his messengers are crazy.
8 God has sent his prophet to warn the people of Ephraim.[g]
But wherever he goes, people try to stop him.
They speak angry words against him, even in the temple of his God.
9 The Israelites do very wicked things,
like the terrible sins that they did at Gibeah.[h]
God will not forget the wicked things that they have done.
He will surely punish them for their sins.
The Lord warns his people
10 The Lord says,
‘When I first found Israel, they gave me pleasure.
It was as if I had found grapes in the wilderness.
Your ancestors made me happy,
like the first fruit on a young fig tree.[i]
But then they came to the god, Baal-Peor.[j]
They began to worship that disgusting idol.
They became as disgusting as the idol that they loved so much.
11 The great things that Israel enjoys will soon disappear.
They will be like birds that fly away!
The women of Israel will no longer give birth to children.
They will not even become pregnant.
12 But even if they do have children,
I will cause them all to die so that none are still alive.
It will be a terrible time for the Israelites,
because I will turn away from them.
13 At one time, I saw that Ephraim's land was a beautiful place, like Tyre.
But now Ephraim's people must bring out their children
for an enemy to kill them.’
14 Lord, what should I ask you to give to these people?
Make it impossible for their women to give birth!
Stop the milk from their breasts to feed their babies!
15 The Lord says,
‘They started to do evil things at Gilgal.[k]
It was there that I began to hate them.
Because they do evil things, I will chase them out of my land.
I will not love them any more.
Their leaders have all turned against me.
16 Ephraim's people are very sick.
They are like a plant that has dry roots
and it gives no fruit.
Even if they give birth to children that they love very much,
I will kill those children.’
17 My God will not accept them as his people,
because they have not obeyed him.
They will have no home of their own.
They will have to live among different nations.
The Lord says that Israel is guilty
10 Israel was like a healthy vine that had lots of grapes.
But as the Israelites became more and more rich,
they built more and more altars.
As their land gave more crops,
they made the pillars that they worshipped more beautiful.
2 They do not truly trust God.
They are guilty and they must receive their punishment.
The Lord will break their altars.
He will destroy their special pillars.
3 Soon these people will say, ‘We did not respect the Lord's authority.
Because of that we have no king.
But even if we had a king now, he could not do anything to help us.’
4 They promise to do many things,
but they never do what they promise.
They make useless agreements.
So people accuse each other in the courts.
They are like weeds that grow in a farmer's field.
5 The people who live in Samaria will be afraid.
They will worry about their image of a calf at Beth Aven.[l]
They will weep because it will go away from them.
The priests who serve the idol will cry too.
They know that an enemy will take away their great and beautiful idol.
6 Assyria's army will carry the idol away.[m]
It will be a gift to give honour to Assyria's great king.
Ephraim's people will feel ashamed.
They will be sorry that they trusted in their wooden idol.
7 The people of Samaria and their king will come to an end.[n]
They will be like a small stick that water carries away.
8 The wicked altars on the hills will break into pieces.[o]
These are places where Israel's people have done bad things.
Thorn bushes and weeds will grow all over their altars.
Then the people will say to the mountains, ‘Hide us!’
They will say to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’
The Lord promises to punish Israel
9 The Lord says,
‘People of Israel, you have continued to do bad things,
since the time that you were at Gibeah.[p]
When the people did evil things at Gibeah,
war destroyed them as a result.
10 When I decide that the time is right,
I will punish the Israelites.
Because of their many sins,
I will bring other nations to attack them.
Their enemies will tie them up with chains.
11 Ephraim was like a cow that I had taught to stamp on grain.[q]
She loved to work for me.
But now I will make her do hard work!
I will put a heavy yoke on her beautiful neck.
Judah will also have to plough the ground.
Jacob's descendants must work to dig up the hard ground.[r]
12 Be like a farmer who plants good seed.
Plant things that are good and right.
Then your harvest will be faithful love.
Plough the hard ground and prepare it for the Lord to bless you.
It is time for you to turn back to the Lord.
Then he will bless you with good things,
like rain that falls on the ground!
13 But instead, you have planted evil things.
So your harvest is terrible trouble.
The food that you eat comes from your lies.
You trusted in your own strength to save you.
You thought that your strong army would keep you safe.
14 So you will soon hear the noise of war.
Enemies will destroy all your strong buildings.
It will be like the time that King Shalman's army destroyed Beth Arbel.[s]
In that battle, cruel soldiers killed mothers together with their children.
15 The same thing will happen to you, people of Bethel,
because of the wicked things that you have done.[t]
When the day of your punishment arrives,
the king of Israel will surely die.’
The Lord still loves his people
11 The Lord says,
‘When Israel was a child, I loved him as my son.
I called my son to come out of Egypt.[u]
2 But the more I spoke to Israel's people,
the more they turned away from me.
They offered sacrifices to the images of Baal.
They burned incense to give honour to their idols.
3 I was the one who taught this child, Ephraim, to walk![v]
I held their hand and I led them.
I took care of them,
but they did not understand this.
4 I loved them and I was kind to them.
I led them as their guide.
I gave them rest from their hard work.
I bent down to feed them.
5 But they refuse to turn back to me.
So they must return to Egypt.
Assyria will rule over them.
6 War will come to their cities.
Enemies will break down the strong city gates.
War will destroy my people and all their wicked ideas.
7 My people have decided to turn away from me.
That is all that they can think about.
They call up to a God who rules above,
but he will not help them.
8 Israel, I cannot leave you alone.
I cannot let you belong to someone else.
I cannot destroy you, as I did to Admah and Zeboiim.[w]
I now realize that I love you too much.
I could never destroy you completely.
9 I am very angry with you,
but I will not punish you so much.
I will never destroy my people, Ephraim.
This is because I am God. I am not a human.
I am the Holy God who is with you.
I will not come to destroy you in my anger.
10 I will roar loudly like a lion,
so that my children come to follow me.
When I roar, my children will shake with fear,
as they come from the west.
11 They will return to me, like birds that fly from Egypt.
They will come like doves that fly from Assyria.
They will be afraid, as they return.
I will bring them back to live in their homes again.’
That is what the Lord says.
The Lord accuses Israel
12 The Lord says,
‘Ephraim's people are always speaking lies to me.
Yes, Israel's descendants try to deceive me.
But Judah's people have stayed with God as their guide.
They continue to be faithful to the Holy God.’[x]
12 Ephraim's people chase after useless things all the time.
They think that they can catch the wind that comes from the east!
But the result is more violence and lies.
They make an agreement with Assyria to get their help.
They also send their olive oil to Egypt to ask for their help.[y]
2 The Lord is ready to accuse Judah's people in a court of law.
He will punish Jacob's descendants for the bad way that they live.
He will punish them as their sins deserve.
3 Before Jacob was born, he cheated his brother.
He did that when they were both inside their mother's body.[z]
When Jacob became a man, he fought against God.
4 He fought against an angel and he won.
He wept and he asked God to bless him.
There at Bethel, Jacob met with God. God spoke to him there.
5 This was the Lord God Almighty!
We know him as the Lord, his special name.
6 So now, you must return to your God.
You must show faithful love for each other.
You must judge people in a fair way.
You must be patient. Trust God to come and help you.
7 Your traders love to cheat people.
They use false weights and measures.
8 Ephraim's people proudly say,
‘We are rich! We have become very rich!
In all the ways that we have found riches,
nobody can accuse us.
We have not really done anything that is a sin!’
9 God says,
‘Remember that I am the Lord your God!
I brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.
Now I will make you live in tents again,
as you did before, in the wilderness.
10 I gave my messages to the prophets.
I showed them many visions.[aa]
I used stories for the prophets to teach the people about me.
11 The people in Gilead do wicked things.[ab]
They will become as useless as their idols.
At Gilgal, the people offer bulls as sacrifices on their altars.
Those altars will be like heaps of stones in a farmer's field.’
12 Jacob ran away to the land of Aram.[ac]
He worked there as a shepherd so that he could get a wife.
13 The Lord used a prophet to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
He used a prophet to keep them safe in the wilderness.
14 But Ephraim's people have made the Lord very angry.
He will punish them with death for their terrible sins.
Their Lord will pay them back as they deserve,
because they have insulted him.
The Lord is angry with Israel
13 In past times, when the leaders of Israel spoke, the people were afraid.[ad]
The people respected their leaders.
But the people became guilty when they worshipped Baal.
Because of that, they died.
2 Now the Israelites continue to do more and more sins.
They use metal to make idols for themselves.
They use clever skills to make idols from silver.
All their idols are only things that people have made themselves.
People offer sacrifices to the image of a calf.
They say, ‘Kiss the calf!’
3 So those people will soon disappear!
They will quickly disappear like mist or dew in the morning.
They will be like chaff that the wind blows away from a threshing floor.
They will be like smoke that disappears out of an open window.[ae]
4 The Lord says,
‘I am the Lord your God.
I brought you out from Egypt.
You must not serve any other God.
No one else can save you except me.
5 I took care of you in the wilderness,
where it was very hot and dry.
6 I gave food to my people, so that they were not hungry.
But when they had enough to eat, they became proud.
As a result, they forgot about me.[af]
7 So I will attack them like a lion.
I will be like a leopard that waits beside the road.
It is ready to catch anything that goes that way.
8 I will attack them like an angry bear that has lost her children.
I will tear them into pieces.
I will eat them like a hungry lion.
I will attack them and kill them, like a wild animal.
9 I will destroy you, Israel.
There will be nobody to help you.
10 What has happened to your king?
He cannot save you!
Where are your rulers?
You asked me to give you rulers like the other nations have.
You said, “Give us a king and rulers.”
11 I was angry, but I agreed to give you a king.
Now I am even more angry and I will take your king away!
12 I have a record of Ephraim's sin.
Ephraim's people will certainly receive their punishment.
13 They will be in pain like a woman who is giving birth.
Her child is foolish. He refuses to be born!
14 Will I save these people from the power of death?
Will I rescue them from their graves?
Death, what diseases can you bring?
What can you do to hurt my people?[ag]
I will not be kind to my people and forgive them.’
15 Among the other nations, Israel has been successful.
It has been like a plant that grows well.
But now the Lord will send trouble.
It will be like a strong east wind that comes from the desert.
Israel's wells and springs of water will become dry.
All the valuable things that Israel has stored will disappear.
16 Samaria's people are guilty and they will receive their punishment.[ah]
They have turned against their God.
They will die in war.
Cruel enemies will kill their young children.
Soldiers will cut open their pregnant women.
Return to the Lord!
14 Israel's people, return to the Lord your God!
Your sins have caused you to fall down.
2 Return to the Lord and pray to him! Say to him,
‘Please forgive all our sins.
Be kind to us as we come to you.
We will praise you with our mouths, as our sacrifice to you.
3 Assyria cannot save us.
The horses that we ride into war will not keep us safe.
We will never again say to the idols that we have made, “You are our gods.”
You are kind to children who have no family.
So please be kind to us.’
4 The Lord says,
‘My people turned away from me, but I will forgive them.
I will love them very much.
I will not be angry with them any more.
5 I will bless Israel's people, like rain that falls on dry ground.
They will grow like beautiful flowers.
They will have strong roots, like the great trees in Lebanon.
6 They will grow like a tree that makes new branches.
They will be beautiful like olive trees.
They will have a sweet smell, like the forests in Lebanon.
7 I will give my people shade to live in safely.
They will plant crops that give them plenty of food.
They will be successful, like a vine that gives many grapes.
They will be famous, like the wine from Lebanon.[ai]
8 People of Ephraim, do not let me see your idols any more!
I will answer your prayers. I will take care of you.
I am like a strong green tree.
All the good things that you have come from me.’
9 If you are wise, you should understand these things.
If you understand, think carefully about them.
The Lord teaches you to live in ways that are right.
Righteous people live in those good ways.
But people who turn against the Lord fall down and lose their way.[aj]
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.