I know all about the people of Ephraim. What Israel is doing is not hidden from me. Now they have joined themselves to other gods. They have made themselves‘ unclean.’

以法莲为我所知；以色列不能向我隐藏。以法莲哪，现在你行淫了，以色列被玷污了。”

至于我，我认识以法莲，以色列不能向我隐藏。以法莲哪，现在你竟然行淫，以色列竟然被污辱。

至于我，我认识以法莲，以色列不能向我隐藏。以法莲哪，现在你竟然行淫，以色列竟然被污辱。

以法莲做了妓女，我一清二楚；以色列玷污了自己，也瞒不过我。”

我认识以法莲，以色列也瞒不住我；以法莲啊！现在你竟行淫，以色列竟玷污了自己。

以法蓮為我所知；以色列不能向我隱藏。以法蓮哪，現在你行淫了，以色列被玷污了。

至於我，我認識以法蓮，以色列不能向我隱藏。以法蓮哪，現在你竟然行淫，以色列竟然被污辱。

至於我，我認識以法蓮，以色列不能向我隱藏。以法蓮哪，現在你竟然行淫，以色列竟然被污辱。

以法蓮做了妓女，我一清二楚；以色列玷污了自己，也瞞不過我。」

我認識以法蓮，以色列也瞞不住我；以法蓮啊！現在你竟行淫，以色列竟玷污了自己。

我、我早就認識了以法蓮了，以色列是不能向我隱藏的；但如今呢、以法蓮哪，你竟行淫了，以色列竟被玷污了。

以法蓮為我所知、以色列無隱於我、以法蓮歟、爾乃行淫、以色列被玷、

以法蓮以色列所行、我已灼知、豈容稍隱、以法蓮行淫、以色列污衊、

以法蓮為我所知、以色列莫能隱於我、今以法蓮行淫、以色列被污穢、

I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled.

I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me. For now, Ephraim, you have acted promiscuously; Israel is defiled.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful, Israel has defiled itself.

I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, O Ephraim, thou hast played the harlot, Israel is defiled.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, Ephraim, you have acted promiscuously; Israel is defiled.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom,[ and] Israel is defiled.

I know Ephraim all too well; the evil of Israel is not hidden from me. For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim; Israel has defiled itself.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute. Israel is defiled.

“ Out of all the families on earth I have chosen only you. So I will punish you because you have committed so many sins.”

Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have planned to destroy you. They said,

I know how many crimes you have committed. You have sinned far too much. Among you are people who crush those who have done no wrong. They accept money from people who want special favors. They take away the rights of poor people in the courts.

The capital of Aram is Damascus. And the ruler of Damascus is only Rezin. Do not worry about the people of Ephraim. They will be too crushed to be considered a people. That will happen before 65 years are over.The capital of Ephraim is Samaria. And the ruler of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” ’ ”

When the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the other tribes trembled with fear. Ephraim was honored in Israel. But its people sinned by worshiping Baal. So they were as good as dead.

“ I will choose for myself a king over Israel. He will destroy the family of Jeroboam. This day your son will die. Even now this is beginning to happen.I, the Lord, will strike down Israel. Israel will be like tall grass swaying in the water. I will pull Israel up from this good land by the roots. I gave it to their people who lived long ago. I will scatter Israel to the east side of the Euphrates River. That is because they made the Lord very angry. They made poles used to worship the female god named Asherah.I will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed. He has also caused Israel to commit those same sins.”

The Lord will also bring the king of Assyria against you. And he will bring him against your people and the whole royal family. That will be a time of trouble. It will be unlike any since the people of Ephraim broke away from Judah.”

The Lord says,“ Ephraim, what can I do with you? And what can I do with you, Judah? Your love for me vanishes like the morning mist. It soon disappears like the early dew.

His glory is like the glory of a bull born first to its mother. His horns are like the horns of a wild ox. He will use them to destroy the nations. He’ll wipe out the nations that are very far away. The ten thousands of men in Ephraim’s army are like the bull and the ox. So are the thousands in the army of Manasseh.”

But his father wouldn’t do it. He said,“ I know, my son. I know. He too will become a nation. He too will become great. But his younger brother will be greater than he is. His children after him will become a group of nations.”On that day, Jacob gave them his blessing. He said,“ The people of Israel will bless others in your name. They will say,‘ May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

‘ I know what you are doing. I know you aren’t cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other!

Jeroboam thought,“ My kingdom still isn’t secure. It could very easily go back to the royal family of David.Suppose the Israelites go up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Lord’ s temple. If they do, they will again decide to follow Rehoboam as their master. Then they’ll kill me. They’ll return to King Rehoboam. He is king of Judah.”So King Jeroboam asked for advice. Then he made two golden statues that looked like calves. He said to the people,“ It’s too hard for you to go up to Jerusalem. Israel, here are your gods who brought you up out of Egypt.”He set up one statue in Bethel. He set up the other one in Dan.What Jeroboam did was sinful. And it caused Israel to sin. The people came to worship the statue at Bethel. They went all the way to Dan to worship the statue that was there.Jeroboam built temples for worshiping gods on high places. He appointed all kinds of people as priests. They didn’t even have to be Levites.He established a feast. It was on the 15th day of the eighth month. He wanted to make it like the Feast of Booths that was held in Judah. Jeroboam built an altar at Bethel. He offered sacrifices on it. He sacrificed to the calves he had made. He also put priests in Bethel. He did it at the high places he had made.He offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. It was on the 15th day of the eighth month. That’s the month he had chosen for it. So he established the feast for the Israelites. And he went up to the altar to sacrifice offerings.

“ The people of Ephraim saw how sick they were. The people of Judah saw that they were wounded. Then Ephraim turned to Assyria for help. They sent gifts to the great King Tiglath- Pileser. But he is not able to make you well. He can’t heal your wounds.

The people of Ephraim look to others for help. It’s like chasing the wind. The wind they keep chasing is hot and dry. They tell more and more lies. They are always hurting others. They make a peace treaty with Assyria. They send olive oil to Egypt to get help.

“ Oholah was unfaithful to me even while she still belonged to me. She longed for her Assyrian lovers. They included soldierswho wore blue uniforms. They also included governors and commanders. All of them were young and handsome. They rode horses.She gave herself as a prostitute to all Assyria’s finest warriors. She made herself impure with the statues of the gods of everyone she longed for.She started being a prostitute in Egypt. And she never stopped. When she was young, men had sex with her. They kissed her virgin breasts. They used up all their sinful desires on her.“ So I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers. She longed for them.They stripped her naked. They took away her sons and daughters. And they killed her with their swords. Other women laughed when that happened. I was the one who had punished her.“ Her sister Oholibah saw it. But her evil desire for sexual sin was worse than her sister’s.She too longed for the men of Assyria. They included governors and commanders. They included soldiers who wore fancy uniforms. They also included men who rode horses. All of them were young and handsome.I saw that she too made herself impure. So both sisters did the same evil things.“ But Oholibah went even further with her sexual sins. She saw pictures of men drawn on a wall. They were figures of Babylonians drawn in red.They had belts around their waists. They wore flowing turbans on their heads. All of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers. They were from the land of the Chaldeans.As soon as she saw the pictures, she longed for the men. So she sent messengers to them in Babylon.Then the Babylonians came to her. They went to bed with her. They had sex with her. They made her impure when they had sex with her. After they did it, she became sick of them. So she turned away from them.She acted like a prostitute who had no shame at all. She openly showed her naked body. I became sick of what she was doing. So I turned away from her. I had also turned away from her sister.But Oholibah offered her body to her lovers again and again. She remembered the days when she was a young prostitute in Egypt.There she had longed for her lovers. Their private parts seemed as big as those of donkeys. And their flow of semen appeared to be as much as that of horses.So you wanted to return to the days when you were young. You longed for the time when you first became impure in Egypt. That was when you allowed your breasts to be kissed. And you permitted your young breasts to be touched.”

Ephraim will soon be crushed. The Assyrians will stomp all over them. It will happen because they have made up their minds to chase after other gods.

“ Ephraim built many altars where they sacrificed sin offerings to other gods. So their altars have become places where they commit sin.

Nothing God created is hidden from him. His eyes see everything. He will hold us responsible for everything we do.

The people of Ephraim will be completely destroyed when it is time for me to punish them. They can be sure it will happen. I am announcing it among their tribes.

The people of Ephraim have joined themselves to other gods. And nothing can be done to help them.They continue to be unfaithful to me even when their drinks are gone. And their rulers love to do shameful things.