6 When the disaster comes and the people are scattered, the Egyptians will gather them up—gather them for burial there at Memphis! Their treasures of silver and the places where their homes once stood will be overgrown with weeds and thorn bushes.
7 The time for punishment has come, the time when people will get what they deserve. When that happens, Israel will know it! “This prophet,” you say, “is a fool. This inspired man is insane.” You people hate me so much because your sin is so great.
8 God has sent me as a prophet to warn his people Israel. Yet wherever I go, you try to trap me like a bird. Even in God's Temple the people are the prophet's enemies.
9 They are hopelessly evil in what they do, just as they were at Gibeah. God will remember their sin and punish them for it.
10 The Lord says, “When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved.
11 Israel's greatness will fly away like a bird, and there will be no more children born to them, no more women pregnant, no more children conceived.
12 But even if they did bring up children, I would take them away and not leave one alive. When I abandon these people, terrible things will happen to them.”