“I know Ephraim!
Israel is not hidden
From me.
For now,
O Ephraim!
You have played
The prostitute.
Israel is defiled.
Their deeds
Do not permit them
To return
To their God.
The spirit of prostitution
Is within them.
They do not know
Yahweh.”
Yahweh, via Hosea, is particularly hard on the tribe of Ephraim, which was just north of Benjamin, with the capital of the northern Israelite kingdom there. Israel could not hide from Yahweh. Ephraim had played the prostitute role. Thus, Israel had defiled itself. By their deeds, they could not return to God. The spirit of prostitution had overtaken them. They no longer knew Yahweh. They had abandoned him.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 