Hosea 5
1 Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, O house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king, for to you pertains the judgment. For ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, members of the royal family!
2 And the revolters have gone deep in making slaughter, but I am a rebuker of them all.
Judgment belongs with you because you have been a snare set at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor. You dug a deep trap in Shittim, but I will punish you for all these things you have done.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me. For now, O Ephraim, thou have played the harlot; Israel is defiled.
I know Ephraim very well, and Israel cannot hide from me, for now Ephraim is a prostitute and Israel is defiled.
4 Their doings will not allow them to turn to their God, for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they do not know Jehovah.
Your actions stop you from coming back to your God for a spirit of prostitution is within you and you do not know the Lord.
5 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity. Judah also shall stumble with them.
Israel's pride speaks against them, right in the face. Israel and Ephraim will stumble because of their guilt, and Judah will stumble along with them.
6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah, but they shall not find him. He has withdrawn himself from them.
They will go to seek the Lord with their herds and flocks, but they will not find him, for he has given up on them.
7 They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah, for they have borne strange sons. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.
They have been unfaithful to the Lord and have had children that are not his. Now the New Moon will destroy them along with their fields.
8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Beth-aven, behind thee, O Benjamin.
Blow the horn in Gibeah! Sound the trumpet in Ramah! Shout an alarm in Beth-aven! Lead the way, Benjamin!
9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke. I have made known that which shall surely be among the tribes of Israel.
Ephraim will be left desolate on the day of punishment. Among the tribes of Israel I will reveal what is the real truth.
10 The rulers of Judah are like those who remove the landmark. I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
The rulers of Judah have become thieves like those who illegally move boundaries. I will pour out my anger like water upon them.
11 Ephraim is oppressed. He is crushed in judgment, because he was content to walk after man's command.
The people of Ephraim are crushed, smashed to pieces in judgment because they were determined to follow human commands.
12 Therefore I am to Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
I am like a maggot to Ephraim, and like something rotten to the people of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb. But he is not able to heal you, nor will he cure you of your wound.
When Ephraim saw how sick they were, and Judah saw how wounded they were, Ephraim turned to the great king of Assyria for help, but he could not heal them or cure their wounds.
14 For I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away, I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver.
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a fierce lion to the people of Judah. I will come and tear them to pieces, and carry them off, and no one will be able to rescue them.
15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.
Then I will leave and return to where I came from until they acknowledge their wrongs, and in their distress they will seek my face and beg for my help.”
