Ephraim will be oppressed, crushed under judgment, because he was determined to pursue worthless idols.

He will roar like a lion, and they will follow the Lord; when he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.

For their mother has committed adultery; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, “I will seek out my lovers; they are the ones who give me my bread and my water, my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine.

“I will punish her for the festival days when she burned incense to the Baal idols; she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but she forgot me!” says the Lord.