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.

“Listen, you priests! And you [other] Israeli people, you also pay attention! And you who are members of the king’s family, [you also need to] listen, because [I am going to] judge you! Your [worshiping idols] has been [like] [MET] a trap for [the people at] Mizpah [town]; it has been [like][MET] a net spread out [to catch people] at Tabor [Mountain].

2 And you have led astray victims into the depths, though I am the teacher of them all.

You have done many evil things, so I will punish all of you.

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel has not been hidden from me, yet now Ephraim has committed fornication, and Israel has been contaminated.

I know [everything about the people of] Israel; nothing that they have done is hidden from me. Because [the people of] Israel have given themselves [to worshiping idols] like [MET] prostitutes [give themselves to the men they sleep with], they have become unacceptable to me.

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.

Because they [like to do evil] things, they will not return to [me], their God. Like prostitutes [who have abandoned their husbands] [MET], they have [IDM] abandoned [MET] me; they do not [even] know me, Yahweh.

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.

[It is as though] their being proud testifies [PRS] against them. The sins that [the people of] Israel have committed [are like a heavy load that] causes them to stumble, and [the people of] Judah stumble 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.

They will come to worship [me], Yahweh, bringing their herds of sheep and cattle, but they will not [be able to] find me, because I have abandoned 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.

They have abandoned me; and their children do not belong to me [MET]. So [they will not be able to celebrate their festivals at] the new moons [because I] will destroy them and [the crops in] their fields.

8 Sound the bugle in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Shout in Bethaven, behind your back, O Benjamin.

Blow the [rams’] horns in Gibeah [town] [and blow] the trumpets in Ramah [town]! Warn [the people at] Beth-Aven [town]; you warriors of the tribe of Benjamin, lead the troops [into the battle].

9 Ephraim will be in desolation on the day of correction, for within the tribes of Israel, I have revealed faith.

Israel will be ruined on the day that [I] destroy them. What I am telling to the tribes of Israel will certainly [happen].

10 The leaders of Judah have become like those who assume the end. I will pour my wrath over them like water.

[Because] the leaders of Judah [seized some land that belonged to Israel], they are like [SIM] those who move boundary markers [to get more land for themselves]; [so] I will punish them severely [MET].

11 Ephraim has been enduring malicious slander and broken judgment, because he began to go after filth.

And [the people of] Israel will suffer greatly when I punish them, because they are [very] determined to worship idols.

12 And I will be like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.

I will destroy [the people of] Israel like [SIM] ([larvae of] moths/cockroaches) destroy wool, and I will cause [the people of] Judah to be like [SIM] rotten wood.

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 [the leaders of] Israel and Judah saw that the people were suffering because of what [their enemies were doing to them] [MET], they sent [messages] to the great King of Assyria requesting [his help]. But he cannot help you; he cannot cause you to stop suffering, [because I am the one who is punishing Israel and Judah].

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.

I will become like [SIM] a lion [DOU] to both nations; I will [attack them and] tear them to pieces. I will drag them away, and no one will [be able to] rescue them.

15 I will go and return to my place, until you shall grow faint and seek my face.

[After that], I will return to my place [in heaven] until they admit that they have sinned [MTY] and return to me; when they will experience [many] troubles, they will request me [to help them].”