I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
Ephraim - representing the ten tribes.
Bemoaning himself - the spirit of penitent supplication shall at last be poured on Israel as the necessary forerunner of their restoration (Zechariah 12:10-14).
Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised. In the first clause the chastisement itself is meant; in the second, the beneficial effect of it in teaching the penitent true wisdom.
As a bullock unaccustomed to ... yoke. A similar image occurs Deuteronomy 32:15. Compare "stiff-necked," Acts 7:51; Exodus 32:9; an image from refractory oxen. Before my chastisement I needed the severe correction I received as much as an untamed bullock needs the goad. Compare Acts 9:5, where the same figure is used of Saul while unconverted. Israel has had a longer chastisement than Judah, not having been restored even at the Jews' return from Babylon. Hereafter, at her restoration, she shall confess the sore discipline was all needed to 'accustom' her to God's and His Christ's "easy yoke" (Matthew 11:29-30).
Turn thou me (to Thyself) - by thy converting Spirit (Lamentations 5:21). But why does Ephraim pray for conversion, seeing that he is already converted? Because we are converted by progressive steps, and need the same power of God to carry forward as to originate our conversion (John 6:44; John 6:65: cf. with Isaiah 27:3; 1 Peter 1:5; Philippians 1:6).