Hosea 5
1 O ye Priestes, heare this, and hearken ye, O house of Israel, and giue ye eare, O house of the King: for iudgement is towarde you, because you haue bene a snare on Mizpah, and a net spred vpon Tabor.
Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, members of the royal family!
2 Yet they were profounde, to decline to slaughter, though I haue bene 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 knowe Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for nowe, O Ephraim thou art become an harlot, and 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 They will not giue their mindes to turne vnto their God: for the spirit of fornication is in the middes of them, and they haue not knowen the Lord.
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 doth testifie to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquitie: Iudah also shall fall 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 goe with their sheepe, and with their bullockes to seeke the Lord: but they shall not finde him: for he hath withdrawne himselfe 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 haue transgressed against the Lord: for they haue begotte strange children: now shall a moneth deuoure them with their portions.
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 Blowe ye the trumpet in Gibeah, and the shaume in Ramah: crie out at Beth-auen, after thee, O Beniamin.
Blow the horn in Gibeah! Sound the trumpet in Ramah! Shout an alarm in Beth-aven! Lead the way, Benjamin!
9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel haue I caused to knowe the trueth.
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 princes of Iudah were like them that remoue the bounde: therefore will I powre out my wrath vpon 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, and broken in iudgement, because he willingly walked after the commandement.
The people of Ephraim are crushed, smashed to pieces in judgment because they were determined to follow human commands.
12 Therefore wil I be vnto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Iudah as a rottennesse.
I am like a maggot to Ephraim, and like something rotten to the people of Judah.
13 When Ephraim sawe his sickenes, and Iudah his wound, then went Ephraim vnto Asshur, and sent vnto King Iareb: yet coulde hee not heale you, nor 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 vnto Ephraim as a lyon, and as a lyons whelpe to the house of Iudah: I, euen I will spoyle, and goe away: I will take away, and none shall rescue it.
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 returne to my place, til they acknowledge their fault, and seeke me: in their affliction they will seeke me diligently.
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.”
