Hosea 5
1 Hear this, O ye priests; and listen well, O ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for the punishment threateneth you; because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread out upon Thabor.
Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, members of the royal family!
2 And for murdering they who had rebelled [against God] concealed themselves in deep places; but I will inflict correction on 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 well know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, hast thou played the 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 Their doings will not permit them to return unto their God; for the spirit of lewdness is in their bosom, and the Lord they have not known.
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 Therefore shall the pride of Israel be humbled before 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6 With their flocks and with their herds will they go to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them.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 Against the Lord have they dealt treacherously; for strange children have they begotten: now shall one month devour them together with their possessions.
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 cornet in Gib'ah, the trumpet in Ramah: blow the alarm at Beth-aven, [The enemy is] after 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 made desolate on the day of chastisement: among the tribes of Israel had I made known that which is true.
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 were like those that remove the landmark: my wrath, therefore, will I pour out 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, broken through punishment; because he willingly walked after the commandment [of false prophets].
The people of Ephraim are crushed, smashed to pieces in judgment because they were determined to follow human commands.
12 But like the moth became I unto Ephraim, and like rottenness to the house of Judah.
I am like a maggot to Ephraim, and like something rotten to the people of Judah.
13 Then saw Ephraim his sickness, and Judah his wound, and Ephraim went to Asshur, and [the other] sent to the king that should contend [[Jareb]]; but he will never be able to heal you, nor remove from you 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 am as a lion unto Ephraim, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I myself will tear in pieces and go away; I will bear away, and none shall 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 [from here, and] return to my place, till they acknowledge their guilt, and seek my presence: in their affliction will they seek for me.
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.”
