3 They will not stay in the land of the Lord.Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 They will not pour outtheir wine offerings to the Lord, and their sacrifices will not please Him.Their food will be like the bread of mourners;all who eat it become defiled. For their bread will be for their appetites alone;it will not enter the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on a festival day, on the day of the Lord’s feast?
6 For even if they flee from devastation,Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Thistles will take possession of their precious silver;thorns will invade their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come. Let Israel recognize it!The prophet is a fool, and the inspired man is insane, because of the magnitudeof your guilt and hostility.
8 Ephraim’s watchman is with my God.The prophet encounters a fowler’s snareon all his ways. Hostility is in the house of his God!
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their guilt;He will punish their sins.