Hosea 5
1 Hear this, priests, and pay attention, house of Israel, and listen closely, house of the king. For there is a judgment against you, because you have become a trap for those you watched over, and a net stretched out over Tabor.
Give ear to this, O priests; give attention, O Israel, and you, family of the king; for you are to be judged; you have been a deceit at Mizpah and a net stretched out on Tabor.
2 And you have led astray victims into the depths, though I am the teacher of them all.
They have gone deep in the evil ways of Shittim, but I am the judge of all.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel has not been hidden from me, yet now Ephraim has committed fornication, and Israel has been contaminated.
I have knowledge of Ephraim, and Israel is not secret from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have been false to me, Israel has become unclean.
4 They will not set their thoughts to return to their God, for the spirit of fornication is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.
Their works will not let them come back to their God, for a false spirit is in them and they have no knowledge of the Lord.
5 And the arrogance of Israel will answer to his face. And Israel and Ephraim will fall in their iniquity, and even Judah will fall with them.
And the pride of Israel gives an answer to his face; and Ephraim will have a fall through his sins, and the fall of Judah will be the same as theirs.
6 With their flocks and their herds, they will go to seek the Lord, and they will not find him. He has taken himself away from them.
They will go, with their flocks and their herds, in search of the Lord, but they will not see him; he has taken himself out of their view.
7 They have sinned against the Lord. For they have conceived sons that are strangers. Now one month will devour them with all their own.
They have been false to the Lord; they have given birth to strange children; now the new moon will make them waste with their fields.
8 Sound the bugle in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Shout in Bethaven, behind your back, O Benjamin.
Let the horn be sounded in Gibeah and in Ramah; give a loud cry in Beth-aven, They are after you, O Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will be in desolation on the day of correction, for within the tribes of Israel, I have revealed faith.
Ephraim will become a waste in the day of punishment; I have given knowledge among the tribes of Israel of what is certain.
10 The leaders of Judah have become like those who assume the end. I will pour my wrath over them like water.
The rulers of Judah are like those who take away a landmark; I will let loose my wrath on them like flowing water.
11 Ephraim has been enduring malicious slander and broken judgment, because he began to go after filth.
Ephraim is troubled; he is crushed by his judges, because he took pleasure in walking after deceit.
12 And I will be like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.
And so to Ephraim I am like a wasting insect, and a destruction to the children of Judah.
13 And Ephraim saw his own weakness, and Judah his chains. And Ephraim went to Assur, and he sent to the Avenging king. But he will not be able to heal you, nor is he able to release you from your chains.
When Ephraim saw his disease and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to the great king; but he is not able to make you well or give you help for your wound.
14 For I will be like a lioness to Ephraim, and like a lion’s offspring to the house of Judah. I myself will seize and go forth. I will take away, and there is no one who can rescue.
For I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the children of Judah; I, even I, will give him wounds and go away; I will take him away, and there will be no helper.
15 I will go and return to my place, until you shall grow faint and seek my face.
I will go back to my place till they are made waste; in their trouble they will go after me early and will make search for me.
