‘As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird. There will be no birth, and none with child, and no conception.'
Ephraim's fate is sealed, and it is a bleak one indeed. ‘Their glory' may indicate such wealth as they have (compare Isaiah 17:3), but in context clearly includes their progeny. They will ‘fly away like a bird'. In other words they will simply be found to have vanished. For there is to be no birth, no one with child, and no conception. This would be the initial effect of their captivity. Such an idea would hit hard into Israel's soul, for children were the greatest desire of their hearts. And even though it is probably not intended to be taken too literally, it must have sounded harsh to them for all that. The point was that their wombs would dry up because of the harsh conditions under which they would have to live (and not only their wombs. See Hosea 9:14).