Hosea 5

1 Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, members of the royal family!

Hear ye this, O ye priests, And hearken, O house of Israel, And give ear, O house of the king! For judgment is coming upon you, Because ye have been a snare at Mizpah, And an outspread net upon Tabor.

2 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.

By their sacrifices they commit deep transgression, And I will bring chastisement upon them all.

3 I know Ephraim very well, and Israel cannot hide from me, for now Ephraim is a prostitute and Israel is defiled.

I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from me; For thou committest fornication, O Ephraim, And Israel is defiled.

4 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.

They will not frame their doings To return to their God; For a spirit of fornication is within them, And they have no regard to Jehovah.

5 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.

The pride of Israel testifieth to his face; Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

6 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.

With their flocks and with their herds shall they go to seek Jehovah, And shall not find him; He hath withdrawn himself from them.

7 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.

They have been false to Jehovah, For they have begotten strange children; Now shall the new moon consume them with their possessions.

8 Blow the horn in Gibeah! Sound the trumpet in Ramah! Shout an alarm in Beth-aven! Lead the way, Benjamin!

Blow ye the trumpet in Gibeah, And the cornet in Ramah; Cry aloud at Bethaven! Look behind thee, O Benjamin!

9 Ephraim will be left desolate on the day of punishment. Among the tribes of Israel I will reveal what is the real truth.

Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel do I make known what is sure.

10 The rulers of Judah have become thieves like those who illegally move boundaries. I will pour out my anger like water upon them.

The princes of Judah are like them that remove the land mark; I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11 The people of Ephraim are crushed, smashed to pieces in judgment because they were determined to follow human commands.

Ephraim is oppressed; he is crushed with punishment, Because he willingly walked after the decree.

12 I am like a maggot to Ephraim, and like something rotten to the people of Judah.

I am as a moth to Ephraim, And as rottenness to the house of Judah.

13 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.

When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah his wound, Then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, And Judah sent to the hostile king; But he will not be able to heal you, Nor will he cure you of your wound.

14 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.

For I will be as a lion to Ephraim, And as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear, and will depart; I will take away, and none shall rescue.

15 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.”

I will go back to my place, Till they have suffered for their sin, and seek my face! In their affliction they will seek me early.