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The haftarah begins with recalling the descent of Jacob to Egypt (the subject with which Parshat Shemot begins). The Jews struck root and blossomed in a foreign land. When they were treated badly by their host country, the Egyptians eventually suffered the very same suffering they inflicted on the Jews. An example for this was when the Egyptians drowned in the sea, this coming as a punishment for drowning Jewish babies in the Nile. By the same token, if Jews would destroy their idols and leave their sinful ways, G‑d would repel their enemies and would render them weak and feeble, thus allowing the Jews to take their territory.

The prophet then turns to the state of the ten northern tribes (the kingdom of Israel, also known as Ephraim after its leading tribe), whose people, particularly the elite, were sunk in the pursuit of material pleasures. Life would not continue for them in this way much longer, for in the end they would suffer the fate of exile and belittlement. The state of Judah, at least at this time, had not gone as far as their brethren in Israel, and so G‑d would be with them, granting their leaders wisdom and strength.

But Isaiah sees the people of Judah too slipping down the slope of temptation. As in Israel, they too would fall to drinking and merrymaking, lowering themselves to a most disgraceful and unholy plateau. “Who will the teachers teach?” the prophet decried, “the suckling babies?!”

The prevailing attitude seemed to be that for every commandment they would hear from the sage, they had some kind of other “commandment” to adhere to. For any defining line of moral standard, they seemed to have some kind of different standard to judge by. If the prophet told them that time was running out and that soon they would experience a downturn, they would delay any movement just to enjoy a few last days of a frivolous life. In the end, though, the day of reckoning would come. For every commandment abandoned, there would be an enemy who would inflict another harsh decree. For that little time of superficial gratification, there would be a downfall that would also not take very long.

Once again, however, in the end it will be good. After their endurance in exile, there will come a time when the Jews will return home from all the places to which they have been dispersed. our holy forefathers will no longer be ashamed of their grandchildren; to the contrary, at that time they will praise G‑d, for the children He gave them will go in their ways.