< 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.
“Hear this, O priests, and attend, O house of Israel, And, O house of the king, give ear, For the judgment [is] for you, For you have been a snare on Mizpah, And a net spread out on Tabor.
2 And you have led astray victims into the depths, though I am the teacher of them all.
And to slaughter sinners have gone deep, And I [am] a chain to them 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 known Ephraim, And Israel has not been hid from Me, For now you have gone whoring, Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
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.
They do not give up their habitual doings, To turn back to their God, For a spirit of whoredoms [is] in their midst, And YHWH they have not known.
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 humbled has been the excellence of Israel to his face, And Israel and Ephraim stumble by their iniquity, Judah has also stumbled with them.
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.
With their flock and with their herd, They go to seek YHWH, and do not find, He has withdrawn from them.
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.
Against YHWH they dealt treacherously, For they have begotten strange sons, Now a month consumes them [with] their portions.
8 Sound the bugle in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Shout in Bethaven, behind your back, O Benjamin.
Blow a horn in Gibeah, a trumpet in Ramah, Shout, O Beth-Aven, 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 is for a desolation in a day of reproof, I have made known a sure thing among the tribes of Israel.
10 The leaders of Judah have become like those who assume the end. I will pour my wrath over them like water.
Princes of Judah have been as those removing a border, I pour out My wrath as water on them.
11 Ephraim has been enduring malicious slander and broken judgment, because he began to go after filth.
Ephraim is oppressed, broken in judgment, When he pleased he went after the command.
12 And I will be like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.
And I [am] as a moth to Ephraim, And as a rotten thing to the house 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.
And Ephraim sees his sickness, and Judah his wound, And Ephraim goes to Asshur, And sends to a warlike king, And he is not able to give healing to you, Nor does he remove a scar from you.
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 [am] as a lion to Ephraim, And as a young lion to the house of Judah, I tear and go, I carry away, and there is no deliverer.
15 I will go and return to my place, until you shall grow faint and seek my face.
I go—I return to My place, Until they are desolate, and have sought My face. In their distress they seek Me speedily!”