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Hosea 9

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1 Be· not ·glad, O Israel, unto rejoicing as the peoples; for thou hast committed·​·harlotry from thy God; thou hast loved meretricious* hire on every threshing·​·floor of grain.

2 The threshing·​·floor and the winepress shall not pasture them, and the must* shall deny her.

3 They shall not dwell in Jehovah’s land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.

4 They shall not pour·​·out wine to Jehovah, nor shall they be·​·agreeable to Him; their sacrifices shall be to them as the bread of sorrows; all that eat of it shall be defiled; for their bread for their soul shall not come·​·into the house of Jehovah.

5 What will you do in the solemn day, and in the day of the festival of Jehovah?

6 For, behold, they are gone away because of devastation; Egypt shall bring· them ·together, Memphis shall bury them: their silver shall be desired, kimmos* shall possess them: the thorny·​·shrub shall be in their tents.

7 The days of the visitation have come, the days of the repayment have come; Israel shall know; stupid is the prophet, the man of the spirit is mad, on·​·account·​·of the multitude of thine iniquity, and much hatred.

8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God; the prophet is like a trap of a fowler in all his ways, hatred in the house of his God.

9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their iniquity, He will visit their sins.

10 I found Israel as grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first·​·fruit in the fig·​·tree in her beginning; but they came to Baal-peor, and separated themselves to that shame; and their detestable things were according·​·to their love.

11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a fowl, from the giving·​·birth, and from the belly, and from the conception.

12 For though they cause their sons to grow·​·up, yet I will make them bereaved of man; for there is also woe to them when I turn·​·aside from them!

13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyre, is planted in a home; but Ephraim shall bring·​·forth his sons to the killer.

14 Give them, O Jehovah; what wilt Thou Give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15 All their evil is in Gilgal; for there I hated them: on·​·account·​·of the evil of their actions I will drive· them ·out from My house, I will love them not again; all their princes are defiant.

16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried·​·up, they shall not make fruit; even though they give·​·birth, yet will I put·​·to·​·death the desires of their belly.

17 My God will reject them, because they did not hearken unto Him; and they shall be fugitives among the nations.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Ephraim

  
Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph, by Januarius Zick

Ephraim was the second son born to Joseph in Egypt and was, along with his older brother Manasseh, elevated by Jacob to the same status as Joseph’s brothers. Thus when the tribes of Israel are named, Ephraim and Manasseh are named as patriarchs along with their uncles – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin -- but Joseph is not. According to Swedenborg, Ephraim represents the intellectual aspect of the church, the part that explores and understands what is true – especially the true ideas that can be drawn from the Bible. Manasseh, meanwhile, represents the affectional aspect of the church, the part that feels and loves and cares. This plays into the best-known story of Ephraim’s life. When Jacob was old and nearing death, Joseph brought his two sons to be blessed. He presented Manasseh to Jacob’s right hand as the elder, and Ephraim to Jacob’s left hand. But Jacob crossed his hands and gave Ephraim the primary blessing. According to Swedenborg, Manasseh was the elder son because ultimately, what we love makes us who we are; our loves form our lives. So our loves are the most central, leading aspect of our human existence, with our intellect playing a secondary role. But as we develop, we need to reverse those. We can use our intellect to understand what is good and right and force ourselves to do it, even when our desires are for what’s selfish. If we stick to that out of a determination to follow the Lord and be good people, the Lord will eventually remove the selfishness from our hearts so we can truly love what is good. By having Jacob bless Ephraim above Manasseh, the Lord is telling us that we have to put our intellect first to pursue our spiritual journey.