O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all who abandon you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in dust, because they abandon the Lord, the fountain of life-giving water.
The people of Ephraim try to catch the wind and try to chase the east wind all day. They are very violent and destructive. They make treaties with Assyria and take olive oil to Egypt.
The people of Ephraim have become important among their relatives. However, the Lord’s scorching wind will come from the east. It will blow out of the desert. Then their springs will run dry, and their wells will dry up. The wind will destroy every precious thing in their storehouses.