Lexicon :: Strong's H669 - 'ep̄rayim

He rejected the tent of Joseph

and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.

“For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say,

The chief city of Aram is Damascus,

the chief of Damascus is Rezin

(within sixty-five years

Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people),

the chief city of Ephraim is Samaria,

and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.

If you do not stand firm in your faith,

then you will not stand at all.

“The LORD will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria.”

Manasseh eats Ephraim,

and Ephraim, Manasseh;

together, both are against Judah.

In all this, his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is still raised to strike.

The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards

will be trampled underfoot.

They will come weeping,

but I will bring them back with consolation.[fn]

I will lead them to wadis filled with water,

by a smooth way where they will not stumble,

for I am Israel’s Father,

and Ephraim is my firstborn.

I have surely heard Ephraim moaning,

“You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined

like an untrained calf.

Take me back, so that I can return,

for you, LORD, are my God.

Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to me,

a delightful child?

Whenever I speak against him,

I certainly still think about him.

Therefore, my inner being yearns for him;

I will truly have compassion on him.

This is the LORD’s declaration.

“tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick so that they become one in my hand.’

“Next to the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, will be Reuben ​— ​one portion.

Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.[fn]

Both Israel and Ephraim stumble

because of their iniquity;

even Judah will stumble with them.

Ephraim will become a desolation

on the day of punishment;

I announce what is certain

among the tribes of Israel.

Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,

for he is determined to follow what is worthless.[fn]

So I am like rot to Ephraim

and like decay to the house of Judah.

When Ephraim saw his sickness

and Judah his wound,

Ephraim went to Assyria

and sent a delegation to the great king.[fn]

But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.

For I am like a lion to Ephraim

and like a young lion to the house of Judah.

Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart.

I will carry them off,

and no one can rescue them.

I have seen something horrible in the house of Israel:

Ephraim’s promiscuity is there; Israel is defiled.

Ephraim has allowed himself to get mixed up with the nations.

Ephraim is unturned bread baked on a griddle.

So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove;

they call to Egypt, and they go to Assyria.

When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin,

they became his altars for sinning.

Ephraim’s watchman is with my God.

Yet the prophet encounters a bird trap

on all his pathways.

Hostility is in the house of his God!

Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird:

no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.

I have seen Ephraim like Tyre,

planted in a meadow,

so Ephraim will bring out his children

to the executioner.

Ephraim is struck down;

their roots are withered;

they cannot bear fruit.

Even if they bear children,

I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.

Ephraim is a well-trained calf

that loves to thresh,

but I will place a yoke on[fn] her fine neck.

I will harness Ephraim;

Judah will plow;

Jacob will do the final plowing.