In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled.
"There is whoredom found in Ephraim ..."  This is the code.word in many of the minor prophets for spiritual adultery, or departure from the true way of God on the part of Israel.  The designation is quite appropriate, because the licentiousness of pagan worship was at once its principal attraction and its chief characteristic.