# Ephraim's iniquity has been stored up; his guilt has been stored up
These two phrases are similar and mean basically the same thing. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]])
# has been stored up
The northern kingdom's iniquity and guilt are spoken of as if they were objects that could be kept for a purpose. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
Here Yahweh speaks of the suffering the people of Israel will suffer as if it were the pains of child birth. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
Yahweh now describes the people of Israel as the baby to which the mother is giving birth. The baby is unwise because it does not want to be born. The people do not want to repent and obey Yahweh. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])