Hosea 5
1 Hear this, O ye priests, and attend, ye house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king, for unto you pertaineth the judgment; for ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, members of the royal family!
2 And they that fall away are gone deep in making slaughter; and I am rejected 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, even I, know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from Me; for now, O Ephraim, thou hast committed harlotry, 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 suffer them to return unto their God; for the spirit of harlotry is within them, and they know not 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 But the pride of Israel shall testify to his face; and 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6 With their flocks and with their herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they shall not find Him; He hath withdrawn Himself from them.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 the LORD, for they have begotten strange children; now shall the new moon devour 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 Blow ye the horn 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 be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel do I make known that which shall surely be.
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 Judah are like them that 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 Oppressed is Ephraim, crushed in his right; because he willingly walked after filth.
The people of Ephraim are crushed, smashed to pieces in judgment because they were determined to follow human commands.
12 Therefore am I unto 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 And when Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to King Contentious; but he is not able to heal you, neither shall 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 unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah; I, even I, will tear and go away, I will take away, 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 guilt, and seek My face; in their trouble 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.”
