Thoughhe flourishesamongthe reeds,An eastwindwill come,The windof the LORDcomingup from the wilderness;And his fountainwill becomedryAnd his springwill be driedup; It will plunder[his] treasuryof everypreciousarticle.
But it was pluckedup in fury;It was castdownto the ground;And the eastwinddriedup its fruit.Its strongbranchwas tornoffSo that it withered;The fireconsumedit.
"Behold,though it is planted,will it thrive?Will it not completelywitheras soon as the eastwindstrikesit-- witheron the bedswhereit grew?"'"
In that timeit will be saidto thispeopleand to Jerusalem,"A scorchingwindfrom the bareheightsin the wildernessin the directionof the daughterof My people--not to winnowand not to cleanse,
"Josephis a fruitfulbough,A fruitfulboughby a spring;[Its] branchesrunovera wall.
He namedthe secondEphraim,"For," [he said], "Godhas mademe fruitfulin the landof my affliction."
Plunderthe silver!Plunderthe gold!For thereis nolimitto the treasure--Wealthfrom everykind of desirableobject.
Israelis a luxuriantvine;He producesfruitfor himself. The morehis fruit,The morealtarshe made;The richerhis land,The betterhe madethe [sacred] pillars.
As for Ephraim,their glorywill flyawaylike a bird--Nobirth,nopregnancyand noconception!
The windwrapsthem in its wings,And they will be ashamedbecauseof their sacrifices.
"Alsotheir godswith their metalimages[and] their preciousvesselsof silverand goldhe will takeinto captivityto Egypt,and he on his partwill refrainfrom [attacking] the kingof the Northfor [some] years.
Thereforethussaysthe LORD,"Behold,I am going to pleadyour caseAnd exactfullvengeancefor you; And I will dryup her seaAnd makeher fountaindry.
I will also giveover allthe wealthof thiscity,allits produceand allits costlythings;even allthe treasuresof the kingsof JudahI will giveover to the handof their enemies,and they will plunderthem, takethem away and bringthem to Babylon.
"You will winnowthem, and the windwill carrythem away, And the stormwill scatterthem; But you will rejoicein the LORD,You will gloryin the HolyOneof Israel.
The nationsrumbleon like the rumblingof manywaters,But He will rebukethem and they will fleefaraway,And be chasedlike chaffin the mountainsbeforethe wind,Or like whirlingdustbeforea gale.
"Preparefor his sonsa placeof slaughterBecause of the iniquityof their fathers.They must not ariseand takepossessionof the earthAnd fillthe faceof the worldwith cities."
Let his posteritybe cutoff;In a followinggenerationlet their namebe blottedout.
The wickedare not so,But they are like chaffwhichthe winddrivesaway.
"His rootsare driedbelow,And his branchis cutoffabove.
"As the firstbornof his ox,majestyis his, And his hornsare the hornsof the wildox;With them he will pushthe peoples,Allat once,[to] the endsof the earth.And thoseare the tenthousandsof Ephraim,And thoseare the thousandsof Manasseh."
But his fatherrefusedand said,"I know,my son,I know;he alsowill becomea peopleand he alsowill be great.However,his youngerbrothershall be greaterthanhe, and his descendantsshall becomea multitudeof nations."
Then behold,sevenears,thinand scorchedby the eastwind,sproutedup afterthem.
You contendedwith them by banishingthem, by drivingthem away.With His fiercewindHe has expelled[them] on the dayof the eastwind.
a windtoostrongfor this--will comeat My command; nowI will alsopronouncejudgmentsagainst them.
Thussaysthe LORD:"Behold,I am going to arouseagainstBabylonAnd againstthe inhabitantsof Leb-kamaiThe spiritof a destroyer.
OrI will stripher nakedAnd exposeher as on the daywhen she was born.I will also makeher like a wilderness,Makeher like desertlandAnd slayher with thirst.
When the suncameup Godappointeda scorchingeastwind,and the sunbeatdownon Jonah'sheadso that he becamefaintand beggedwith [all] his soulto die,saying,"Deathis betterto me thanlife."
and lo,sevenears,withered,thin,[and] scorchedby the eastwind,sproutedup afterthem;
