1. Israel, don't be joyful. Don't be glad as the other nations are. You haven't been faithful to your God. You love to get paid for being a prostitute. Your pay is the grain at every threshing floor.
2. But soon there won't be any grain or wine to feed you. There won't even be any fresh wine.
3. You won't remain in the Lord's land. Ephraim, you will return to Egypt. You will eat "unclean" food in Assyria.
4. You won't pour out wine offerings to the Lord. Your sacrifices won't please him. They'll be like the bread people eat when someone dies. Everyone who eats those sacrifices will be "unclean." They themselves will have to eat that kind of food. They can't bring it into the Lord's temple.
5. What will you do when your appointed feasts come? What will you do on the Lord's special days?
6. Some of you will escape without being destroyed. But you will die in Egypt. Your bodies will be buried at Memphis. Weeds will cover your treasures of silver. Thorns will grow up in your tents.
7. The time when God will punish you is coming. The day when he will judge you is near. I want you to know that. You have committed many sins. And you hate me very much. That's why you think I'm foolish. You think I'm crazy. But the Lord speaks through me.
8. People of Ephraim, I'm a true prophet. My God is warning you through me. But you set traps for me everywhere I go. You hate me so much you even wait for me in God's house.