Hosea 5

¹Hosea 5:1. “Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O royal house! For this judgment is against you because you have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.²Hosea 5:2. The rebels are deep in slaughter; but I will chastise them all.³Hosea 5:3. I know all about Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, O Ephraim, you have turned to prostitution; Israel is defiled.⁴Hosea 5:4. Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God, for a spirit of prostitution is within them, and they do not know the LORD.⁵Hosea 5:5. Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them.⁶Hosea 5:6. They go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, but they do not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them.⁷Hosea 5:7. They have been unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their land.⁸Hosea 5:8. Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the battle cry in Beth-aven: Lead on, O Benjamin!⁹Hosea 5:9. Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.¹⁰Hosea 5:10. The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary stones; I will pour out My fury upon them like water.¹¹Hosea 5:11. Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols.¹²Hosea 5:12. So I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.¹³Hosea 5:13. When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.¹⁴Hosea 5:14. For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.¹⁵Hosea 5:15. Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”