8-9. “Blow the ram’s horn shofar in Gibeah,the bugle in Ramah!Signal the invasion of Sin City!Scare the daylights out of Benjamin!Ephraim will be left wasted,a lifeless moonscape.I’m telling it straight, the unvarnished truth,to the tribes of Israel.
10. “Israel’s rulers are crooks and thieves,cheating the people of their land,And I’m angry, good and angry.Every inch of their bodies is going to feel my anger.
11-12. “Brutal Ephraim is himself brutalized—a taste of his own medicine!He was so determinedto do it his own worthless way.Therefore I’m pus to Ephraim,dry rot in the house of Judah.
13. “When Ephraim saw he was sickand Judah saw his pus-filled sores,Ephraim went running to Assyria,went for help to the big king.But he can’t heal you.He can’t cure your oozing sores.
14-15. “I’m a grizzly charging Ephraim,a grizzly with cubs charging Judah.I’ll rip them to pieces—yes, I will!No one can stop me now.I’ll drag them off.No one can help them.Then I’ll go back to where I came fromuntil they come to their senses.When they finally hit rock bottom,maybe they’ll come looking for me.”