אַל־תִּשְׂמַח יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־גִּיל כָּעַמִּים כִּי זָנִיתָ מֵעַל אֱלֹהֶיךָ אָהַבְתָּ אֶתְנָן עַל כָּל גָּרְנוֹת דָּגָן

Do not rejoice, Israel; exult not like the other peoples. You cannot lead ordinary lives like the rest of the nations, and you will be unable to ward off the fate that awaits you. You will suffer real afflictions, as you have licentiously strayed from your God; you have loved to receive the prostitute’s fee, the blessings of the land that you attributed to the Baal and that you found upon every threshing floor of grain.

גֹּרֶן וָיֶקֶב לֹא יִרְעֵם וְתִירוֹשׁ יְכַחֶשׁ בָּהּ

Therefore, the threshing floor and the winepress will not provide grain and wine for them, and the new wine of this land will fail them. Even if you plant vineyards, nothing will grow.

לֹא יֵשְׁבוּ בְּאֶרֶץ ה' וְשָׁב אֶפְרַיִם מִצְרַיִם וּבְאַשּׁוּר טָמֵא יֹאכֵלוּ

They, the people of the Kingdom of Israel, will not dwell in the Lord’s land, as they will be exiled from it. Some of the descendants of Ephraim will return to Egypt, while others will be taken to Assyria, and in Assyria, an impure country, they will eat impure food.

לֹא־יִסְּכוּ לַה' יַיִן וְלֹא יֶעֶרְבוּ לוֹ זִבְחֵיהֶם כְּלֶחֶם אוֹנִים לָהֶם כָּל־אֹכְלָיו יִטַּמָּאוּ כִּי־לַחְמָם לְנַפְשָׁם לֹא יָבוֹא בֵּית ה'

They will not pour libations of wine to the Lord, and their feast offerings will not be pleasing to Him. They are like the bread of violations to them; all who eat it will be defiled, for their bread is prepared for themselves; it shall not come into the House of the Lord. Since they themselves are impure people, nothing they bring into the House of God will be acceptable to Him.

מַה־תַּעֲשׂוּ לְיוֹם מוֹעֵד וּלְיוֹם חַג ה'!

What will you do on the day of the appointed time for retribution, and on the day of the Lord’s festival, when He will carry out your sentence?

כִּי־הִנֵּה הָלְכוּ מִשֹּׁד מִצְרַיִם תְּקַבְּצֵם מֹף תְּקַבְּרֵם מַחְמַד לְכַסְפָּם קִמּוֹשׂ יִירָשֵׁם חוֹחַ בְּאָהֳלֵיהֶם

For, behold, when they, the Israelites, have gone into retreat from those plundering them in their own place, Egypt will gather them, and Mof, a major Egyptian city, will bury them. The treasuries of their silver will be ruined, and nettles will sprout therein and take possession of them, and thorns will grow in their tents and cover their estates.

בָּאוּ יְמֵי הַפְּקֻדָּה בָּאוּ יְמֵי הַשִּׁלֻּם יֵדְעוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֱוִיל הַנָּבִיא מְשֻׁגָּע אִישׁ הָרוּחַ

The days of reckoning their deeds have come, the days of receiving their recompense and punishment have come, and Israel will know it. In the meantime, however, Israel seeks to repress this knowledge, and when they hear harsh prophecies such as these, they tend to deride the prophet, saying: The prophet is a fool; the man of the spirit is mad. They thus justify their ignoring him. The prophet responds: You make these statements over the excess of your iniquity, the magnitude of hatred.

עַל רֹב עֲוֹנְךָ וְרַבָּה מַשְׂטֵמָה צֹפֶה אֶפְרַיִם עִם־אֱלֹהָי נָבִיא פַּח יָקוֹשׁ עַל־כָּל־דְּרָכָיו מַשְׂטֵמָה בְּבֵית אֱלֹהָיו

Ephraim watches out for my God from afar, seeking to know His plan. Ephraim pretends to be a prophet who is privy to God’s plans, while the true prophets are unable to say anything to him because they meet with too much adversity. For a trap set by his despisers will ensnare a prophet on all his ways, and hatred toward him is in the House of his God.

הֶעְמִיקוּ שִׁחֵתוּ כִּימֵי הַגִּבְעָה יִזְכּוֹר עֲוֹנָם יִפְקוֹד חַטֹּאתָם

They, Israel, have deeply corrupted themselves with sin, as in the days of the abuse and murder of the concubine at Giva, in the portion of Benjamin. The people as a whole were aware of this sin and ashamed of it and its consequences; it was etched in the national memory. He, God, will remember their iniquity; He will reckon their sins.

כַּעֲנָבִים בַּמִּדְבָּר מָצָאתִי יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּבִכּוּרָה בתְאֵנָה בְּרֵאשִׁיתָהּ רָאִיתִי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם הֵמָּה בָּאוּ בַעַל־פְּעוֹר וַיִּנָּזְרוּ לַבֹּשֶׁת וַיִּהְיוּ שִׁקּוּצִים כְּאָהֳבָם

God speaks about His discovery of His people: Like they were grapes in the wilderness, I first found and cherished Israel; like a first fruit on a fig tree in its first season that is eagerly picked, I saw your fathers. But even before arriving in the Land of Israel, they came to Baal Peor and dedicated themselves to shame, a derogatory term for idolatry, and they became repugnant to Me to the same degree that I had previously loved them. The grace of their youth soon passed, to be replaced by revulsion.

אֶפְרַיִם כָּעוֹף יִתְעוֹפֵף כְּבוֹדָם מִלֵּדָה וּמִבֶּטֶן וּמֵהֵרָיוֹן

As for the people of Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird, and nothing will remain of their glory even in their early stages of existence: From birth, from womb, and from conception. Alternatively, the verse is referring to Ephraim’s punishment: Exile and child mortality, as indicated by the next verse.

כִּי אִם־יְגַדְּלוּ אֶת־בְּנֵיהֶם וְשִׁכַּלְתִּים מֵאָדָם כִּי־גַם־אוֹי לָהֶם בְּשׂוּרִי מֵהֶם

Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of people, as those children will die; indeed, woe to them, because evil will be their portion when I turn from them.

אֶפְרַיִם כַּאֲשֶׁר רָאִיתִי לְצוֹר שְׁתוּלָה בְנָוֶה וְאֶפְרַיִם לְהוֹצִיא אֶל־הֹרֵג בָּנָיו

Ephraim was sitting in his place in tranquility, just as I saw Tyre, the prosperous Phoenician city, planted in tranquility at the edge of the sea; but it is decreed upon Ephraim that he will take his children out to the killer.

תֵּן־לָהֶם ה' מַה־תִּתֵּן תֵּן־לָהֶם רֶחֶם מַשְׁכִּיל וְשָׁדַיִם צֹמְקִים

Give to them, Lord. What bad gift will You give them? Give them a bereaving womb which cannot carry children, and withered breasts unable to feed them.

כָּל־רָעָתָם בַּגִּלְגָּל כִּי־שָׁם שְׂנֵאתִים עַל רֹעַ מַעַלְלֵיהֶם מִבֵּיתִי אֲגָרְשֵׁם לֹא אוֹסֵף אַהֲבָתָם כָּל־שָׂרֵיהֶם סוֹרְרִים

All their evildoing, of Israel, is rooted in Gilgal, for there I hated them for the evil of their exploits. Gilgal, the former location of the Tabernacle and the place where the first king, Saul, was crowned, had become a center for idolatry. I will banish them from My house, the Land of Israel; I will not love them any longer, as all their princes are wayward.

הֻכָּה אֶפְרַיִם שָׁרְשָׁם יָבֵשׁ פְּרִי בַל־יַעֲשׂוּן גַּם כִּי יֵלֵדוּן וְהֵמַתִּי מַחֲמַדֵּי בִטְנָם

Ephraim was struck; their root is withered, and therefore they will bear no fruit. Even if they give birth, I will kill the delights of their womb, their dear children.

יִמְאָסֵם אֱלֹהַי כִּי לֹא שָׁמְעוּ לוֹ וְיִהְיוּ נֹדְדִים בַּגּוֹיִם

My God will spurn them because they did not heed Him, and they will be itinerant among the nations. Ephraim will be sent into exile.